A colorful, fruit-eating bird with a black mask, pale belly, and scarlet breast- never before described by science- has been discovered and named a Sira Barbet by Cornell Univ. graduates following an expedition to the remote Peruvian Andes.
The team discovered the barbet on a ridge of montane cloud forest in the Cerros del Sira range in the eastern Andes. Steep ridges and deep river gorges in the Andes produce many isolated habitats and microclimates that give rise to uniquely evolved species.
The new species was discovered during a 2008 expedition led by Michael G. Harvey ’08 and Glenn Seeholzer ’08, both doctoral students at Louisiana State University, and Ben Winger ’07, a doctoral student at the University of Chicago. They were accompanied by co-author Daniel Cáceres, a graduate of the Universidad Nacional de San Agustín in Arequipa, Peru, and local Ashéninka guides.
“Fitz has inspired generations of young ornithologists in scientific discovery and conservation,” said Winger. “He was behind us all the way when we presented our plan for this expedition.”
The 2008 expedition was made possible by funding from a special gift to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and donations to the lab’s student World Series of Birding team, the Rawlings Cornell Presidential Research Scholars, National Geographic Young Explorers’ Grant and the Explorers Club.