NATURALIST AT LARGE 



The Butterfly Bird 



A Icj^ciidary hummingbird draws bird-watchers 



to the Periwiati Andes, but the details of its biology 



and ecology remain largely unknown. 



By Noam Shany 



A 



lid cstih cl colibri que la mariposa 

 Ic sii^iic! ("It's over there, the 

 hummingbird that the butter- 

 fly follows!"). The children in the 

 crowded schoolyard shout excitedly, 

 pointing to a tiny hummingbird hidden 

 in the foliage. As I often do, to encour- 

 age environmentalism I am visiting a 

 school as I make my way into the An- 

 des of northeastern Peru. The teachers, 

 newcomers to the nations Amazonas 

 Department and not familiar with its 

 many living creatures, are amazed by 

 their students' knowledge. I am disap- 

 pointed when I see the bird, however: 

 it is just an immature male, with 

 only a short tail. ' 



Some boys offer to show me 'f 

 a fully cleveloped male, whose 

 unusual tail does indeed make 

 the bird in flight look as if it has 

 a buttei^fly in hot pursuit. Each 

 boy claims to know a secret spot 

 near his family's plot of culti- 

 vated land. Sometimes their tips 

 introduce me to new locales 

 where the bird occurs. This 

 time, though, I decline their of- 

 fers and, after taking my leave, 

 continue driving firther upland 

 along the winding road, deeper 

 into the range of my c]uarry 



The Peruvian Andes have long been 

 inhabited. Earlier on my route, I passed 

 a turnoff leading to Kuelap, the ancient 

 fortress of the Chachapoyas culture, a 

 civilization that flourished in northern 

 Peru from A.ix SOO until 1470. But the 

 pace of new settlement is unprece- 

 dented. The slopes are a crazy c]uilt of 

 cloud forests and lush meaciows dotted 



with catde. When I reach La Florida, 

 a tiny village nestled on the shores of 

 Lake Pomacochas [see map below], I no- 

 tice that since my last visit, makeshift 

 housing has mushroomed along the 

 recently paved road. More forest is 

 being cleared to make room for firm- 

 ing and pastures. Mounds of bags filled 

 with potatoes await pickup; farmers 

 pull donkeys that carry containers 

 loaded with milk for a local dairy. How 

 do all these changes affect my rare lit- 

 tle hummingbird? 



Area of Detail 



A legend among ornithologists and 

 bird-watchers, Loddigcsia niirabilis, the 

 marvelous spatuletail, occurs primarily 

 along an eighr\'-mile stretch of the east 

 bank of the Utcubamba River. The 

 bird seems content to inhabit the edges 

 of humid montane forest, patches ot 

 shrubbery, and second-growth forest. 

 Such habitat appears widely available. 

 Yet for some reason no one under- 



stands, the bird's range and numbers are 

 highly restricted. 



In the past eight years I have visited 

 the bird's stronghold perhaps twenty 

 times, sharing muddy trails with the 

 firmers' donkeys and o.xen. Near the 

 cultivated plots, the only native plants 

 are a few shrubs that mark the borders 

 ot properties and a few scattered trees on 

 the edge of the trail. In my search I seek 

 out an area at the forest's margin where 

 I see a suitable hummingbird ciiningarea: 

 some Boiiuvea forjuosissiDia vines that 

 are profuse with clusters of bright red, 

 tubular flowers. As I wait, a sparkling 

 violet-ear, a common hummingbird of 

 the Andes, alternates between visiting 

 the flowers and perching atop a tall tree, 

 where he sings his raspy song. 



Then a small hummingbird with a 

 long tail whizzes by. Could it be the 

 bird of my quest? No, it is a green-tailed 

 trainbearer, its extremely long stream- 

 ers glittering in the light. Minutes pass; 

 I grow restless. Perhaps this is not a 

 good spot after all. Then a movement 

 down low catches my eye. In silhouette 

 against the ground, a bird hums like 

 wind through the brush and 

 vanishes into the dense vege- 

 tation. That's it! The milli- 

 second sighting rekindles my 

 dampened spirits. I have clearly 

 seen why people would say of the 

 bird that it looks as if it is being 

 followed by a butterfly. Floating 

 behind the hummingbird's body, 

 two specialized tail feathers give 

 the impression that butterfly 

 wings — or even two more birds — 

 are giving chase. 



Excluding those tw^o feathers, 

 the marvelous spatuletail is a pe- 

 tite bird, measuring less than three 

 inches from the tip of its beak to the 

 end of its tail. Its bill is black, of medi- 

 um length, and curved slightly down- 

 ward. The female's plumage is tairly 

 plain for a hummingbird — green on 

 top, dingy white below. In the male, 

 blue crown feathers make for a rather 

 short crest, the gorget is brilliant 

 turquoise-green, and a black Hne bi- 

 sects the whitish underparts. The ma- 



24 



NATURAI lilsioKY February 2006 



