Black Inca  (Coeligena prunellei)

Classified as Endangered (EN) on the IUCN Red List (1). Listed under Appendix II of CITES (3).

The black Inca is a dark-coloured hummingbird, which has a long straight bill (2). The plumage is generally black, with a greenish-blue throat patch; on each side of the chest there is a white patch, and the shoulders are iridescent blue (2). As with most hummingbirds, the female is somewhat drab in colour compared to the male (4). The narrow wings are adapted for hovering and the legs and feet are small and weak, a feature hinted at by the name of the order to which hummingbirds and swifts belong, ‘Apodiformes’, a term that means footless (4).

The black Inca is endemic to Colombia, where it is restricted to the western slopes of the East Andes (1) (2).

Inhabits humid montane forests, particularly where oaks are dominant (2). Individuals have also been recorded in parkland and riverine forests (2).

Little is known of the life history of this rare species. It is thought to breed between June and October (2).

The main threats affecting this species include habitat loss and degradation, largely as a result of human settlement and the clearance of the forest for wood and for agricultural land, including coffee and sugarcane plantations (2). Much of the remaining habitat is greatly fragmented and isolated (2).

The black Inca is listed under Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). It occurs within a nature sanctuary in one part of its range, and so receives a level of protection in this area. There is currently a need to carry out surveys in some parts of the range and to study the life-history and breeding behaviour of the species (2).

For further information on the black Inca see:

• BirdLife International 2003 BirdLife’s online World Bird Database: the site for bird conservation Version 2.0. Cambridge, UK: BirdLife International:
  www.birdlife.org/

• Endemic: a species or taxonomic group that is only found in one particular country or geographic area.
• Montane forests: forest occurring in the montane zone, a zone of cool upland slopes below the tree line dominated by large evergreen trees.

1. IUCN Red List (September, 2008)
   http://www.iucnredlist.org
2. BirdLife International 2003 Birdlife’s online World Bird Database: the site for bird conservation Version 2.0. Cambridge, UK: BirdLife International. (March, 2004)
   http://www.birdlife.org/
3. CITES Appendices (March, 2004)
   http://www.cites.org/eng/resources/species.html
4. Erritzoe, J. (1993) The Birds of CITES and how to identify them.The Lutterworth Press, Cambridge.