Gold-throated hummingbird discovered in Peru

Scientists found a gold-throated hummingbird in the Cordillera Azul National Park in Peru that, according to John Bates, a curator of birds at the Field Museum in Chicago, didn't "look like anything else."
"My first thought was, it was a new species," he said.
But following a DNA analysis, scientists discovered that the bird was actually a hybrid of two other species of hummingbirds: the Heliodoxa gularis, and the Heliodoxa branickii, both of which have pink throats. "We thought it would be genetically distinct," commented Bates. "But it matched Heliodoxa branickii in some markers."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The discovery led scientists to question how a bird with a gold throat could come from two birds with pink throats. The answer has to do with the "complex ways in which iridescent feather colors are determined," according to a press release from the Field Museum.
"It's a little like cooking: if you mix salt and water, you kind of know what you're gonna get, but mixing two complex recipes together might give more unpredictable results," explained Chad Eliason, a senior research scientist at the Field Museum. "This hybrid is a mix of two complex recipes for a feather from its two parent species."
The color of the hummingbird's feathers is derived from both a base color, which is the actual pigment, and a structural color, which is how it looks once light reflects off of the feather, CNN reports. Since "the parent species each have their own way of making magenta," Eliason said, "you can have this ... surprising outcome when you mix together those two recipes for producing a feather color."
The findings were published in the journal Royal Society Open Science. "New tools like genetic data open up new understanding of how these events happen across geography and time," Bates said.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Devika Rao has worked as a staff writer at The Week since 2022, covering science, the environment, climate and business. She previously worked as a policy associate for a nonprofit organization advocating for environmental action from a business perspective.
-
The full moon calendar for every month.
In depth When to see the lunar phenomenon every month
By Devika Rao, The Week US
-
Meta on trial: What will become of Mark Zuckerberg's social media empire?
Today's Big Question Despite the CEO's attempt to ingratiate himself with Trump, Meta is on trial, accused by the U.S. government of breaking antitrust law
By Joel Mathis, The Week US
-
Is the American dream still in reach?
In Depth Generations of immigrants have come to America seeking a better life. Can they still do so?
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Katy Perry, Gayle King visit space on Bezos rocket
Speed Read Six well-known women went into lower orbit for 11 minutes
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
The dubious nature of de-extinction
The Explainer Is it a vanity project backed by billions, or the future of animal conservation?
By Theara Coleman, The Week US
-
Scientists map miles of wiring in mouse brain
Speed Read Researchers have created the 'largest and most detailed wiring diagram of a mammalian brain to date,' said Nature
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Scientists genetically revive extinct 'dire wolves'
Speed Read A 'de-extinction' company has revived the species made popular by HBO's 'Game of Thrones'
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Toxic algae could be causing sea lions to attack
In the Spotlight A particular algae is known to make animals more aggressive
By Justin Klawans, The Week US
-
Sea geniuses: all the ways that octopuses are wildly intelligent
The Explainer There's more to the tentacles than meets the eye
By Devika Rao, The Week US
-
Dark energy may not doom the universe, data suggests
Speed Read The dark energy pushing the universe apart appears to be weakening
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Pharaoh's tomb discovered for first time in 100 years
Speed Read This is the first burial chamber of a pharaoh unearthed since Tutankhamun in 1922
By Peter Weber, The Week US