A study into giant hummingbird migration has revealed that what was once thought to be one species is actually two
Researchers from UNM’s Museum of Southwestern Biology (MSB) have uncovered the giant hummingbird’s extreme long-distance migration for the first time.
Their eight-year study, Extreme elevational migration spurred cryptic speciation in giant hummingbirds published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
The researchers wanted to figure out where these migratory giant hummingbirds spend the winter.
The birds, which are about eight times the size of a Black-chinned hummingbird, breed along the Pacific Coasts of central Chile but ‘vanish’ after breeding.
This mystery had remained unsolved since the 19th century when Charles Darwin observed the migratory giant hummingbirds during his voyage on The Beagle.
Williamson and her UNM-led team of international collaborators discovered that migratory giant hummingbirds ascend over 13,000 feet in elevation to the high Andes