Photographer: Dušan Brinkhuizen   Destination: Peru

 

 

Evolution has produced no shortage of extravagant hummingbirds, but even among this dazzling family, the Marvelous Spatuletail seems almost excessive. Found only in a small area of the eastern Andes of northern Peru, the adult male possesses one of the most extraordinary tails in the bird world. Of its four tail feathers, the elongated outer pair terminate in large violet-blue spatules, which can be manipulated independently and swung dramatically during courtship. Add an iridescent turquoise gorget and glittering crown, and it is easy to understand why this tiny Peruvian endemic ranks among the most coveted hummingbirds on Earth.

 

Those remarkable spatules are not simply ornamental. During courtship, a male performs an energetic display in which the tail feathers are raised and waved around his body, presenting the shimmering discs to a watching female. Maintaining and manoeuvring such elaborate feathers comes at a cost, making the Marvelous Spatuletail a spectacular example of sexual selection, where attracting a mate has driven ornamentation to extraordinary extremes. For birders fortunate enough to witness a displaying male, the experience is considerably more impressive than simply seeing the famous tail illustrated in a field guide.

 

The Marvelous Spatuletail's restricted distribution also tells a much larger story about Peru. The Andes are divided by deep river valleys, towering ridges and isolated mountain systems that can separate bird populations for immense periods of time. In northern Peru, the Marañón Valley and its surrounding cordilleras have helped create pockets of endemism where species have evolved in relative isolation. The result is an exceptional concentration of birds with remarkably small ranges, making this one of the most exciting regions in South America for endemic birding.

 

Our Northern Peru tours explore this evolutionary patchwork in depth. Around Cocachimba and the spectacular Gocta Waterfall we search for Marvelous Spatuletail before continuing through a succession of dramatically different Andean environments. The forests of Abra Patricia hold such coveted birds as Long-whiskered Owlet, Royal Sunangel and Yellow-scarfed Tanager, while the drier Marañón country supports highly localised species including Little Inca Finch, Marañón Crescentchest and the Critically Endangered Marañón Spinetail. Around Cajamarca, another collection of restricted-range birds awaits, including the exceptionally scarce and Endangered Grey-bellied Comet, Cajamarca Antpitta and dazzling Black Metaltail. Our Northern Peru tours even visit the Plataforma area, which is no longer difficult to reach, for the gorgeous Scarlet-banded Barbet and Cordillera Azul Antbird which was only discovered in 2016! Each change in elevation, rainfall and geography seems to bring with it another distinctive suite of birds.

 

This remarkable diversity continues throughout Peru. Farther south, the Andes rise into immense snow-covered cordilleras and high puna before plunging through cloud forest towards the Amazon Basin. The legendary Manu Road follows this transition through thousands of metres of elevation, producing an extraordinary turnover of species, while the Central Andes and Cordillera Blanca contain yet more highly localised birds shaped by Peru's complex mountain geography. Beyond the Andes, the immense Amazonian forests around Iquitos reveal an entirely different avifauna, completing a country whose variety of landscapes is matched by the scale of its bird diversity.

 

Yet even among Peru's remarkable collection of endemics, the Marvelous Spatuletail stands apart. Its extravagant tail is a product of evolution pushed to an astonishing extreme, while its tiny Andean range is a reminder of the forces that have made Peru such an extraordinary centre of avian diversity. Seeing a male flick those extraordinary violet-blue spatules among the flowering slopes of northern Peru is more than another endemic for the list. It is a glimpse at evolution at its most spectacular.