A BIRD DISCOVERED IN COLOMBIA
October 9, 2006, 8:24

A colourful new bird was discovered in Bogota, Colombia in an unexplored cloud forest said conservation groups on Monday.
The bright red and yellow-crowned bird was named the “Yariguies Brush-finch” after the indigenous tribe that was once inhabited in the mountainous area where the bird was discovered. For conservationists, the discovery of the Yariguies Brush-finch came at a very bad time, the government had set aside five hundred (500) acres of the forest where the bird lives, to create a national park. “The bird was discovered in what is the last remnants of cloud forest in that region.” Camila Gomez, member of Colombia’s conservation group said on Monday. “There are still a lot of flora and fauna species that are undiscovered that lice in the area.” The small bird can be distinguished from its closest relative- the yellow-breasted brush-finch- by its solid black back and the lack of white marks on its wings. Thomas Donegan, the person who discovered the bird in January, 2004, said on Monday, “There are about two to three new birds found in the world every year. It is a very rare event.”
The new finch, the size of a fist, is considered, by its discoverers, to be near-threatened and in need of close monitoring to prevent it from becoming endangered.