Una diglosa carbonosa albina (Diglossa carbonaria) en los altos Andes de Bolivia

Abstract

In February 2003 I observed a bird that appeared to be a completely white flowerpiercer (Diglossa sp.) foraging on the shrub Brachiotum microdon (Melastomataceae) along the edge of a 34.9-ha Polylepis forest fragment in Sacha Loma, Cochabamba department (Bolivia). The bird moved normally within the fragment, mostly through the central part containing a 10-ha boulder field. When flying across this area it became camouflaged against the background of grey boulders. I caught the albino, after 4 hrs of effort, with a 12-m mist net placed transversally in the boulder field.