We wanted to kick off the Wild About Colombia blog with a feature on one of the myriad special species of bird (over 1,900 species have been recorded here – the most of any country in the world!) that can be experienced on a Colombia birding tour. The magnificent Buffy Helmetcrest (a member of the genus oxypogon) is confined to montane habitats within a highly restricted distribution range of páramo (high-altitude tropical moorland), sub-páramo and elfin forests of Colombia’s central Andean range within the Los Nevados National Park. Here, amongst this starkly beautiful mosaic of habitats, Buffy Helmetcrest has a particular reliance and association with Espeletia, or locally ‘frailejones’ – a genus of plants in the subtribe Espeletiinae which the helmetcrests can often be seen clinging to, in order to conserve energy, while extracting nectar and especially picking off micro insects. Other flowering plants are also important to the species throughout the year, but it is the Espeletia which it is most reliant upon. They employ a feeding habit known as ‘trap-lining’ whereby an individual will forage a specific set of flowers on a continual loop – in a way harvesting the limited resources in this rarefied habitat. It is perhaps for this reason that, like many other hummingbird species, helmetcrests are highly territorial and will act aggressively towards others of its own kind that encroach upon its’ feeding grounds. Seeing these beautiful birds is always a special privilege and often proves to be a highlight of a Wild About Colombia birding tour!