Tag Archives: birding

The Colombian Coffee Region (Spanish: Eje Cafetero), is a part of the Colombian Paisa region in the rural area of Colombia. It is famous for growing and producing the majority of Colombian coffee, considered by many to be the best coffee in the world. There are four departments in the area: Caldas, Quindío, Risaralda and Valle del Cauca. The most visited cities are Manizales, Armenia, Pereira, and Cali. This region was declared as a World Heritage region in 2011 (Coffe Cultural Landscape of Colombia).

We describe overlooked patterns and age-related variation in the iris coloration of the Red-bellied Grackle (Hypopyrrhus
pyrohypogaster), a range-restricted threatened species of the Colombian Andes. Whereas adults exhibit a bicolored paleyellow/scarlet red iris, juveniles show a dark iris, ranging from dark brown to grayish brown. In addition, we report the first
case for a Neotropical species of temporary heterochromia iridis, an uncommon phenomenon in birds, from recaptures of a
female Red-bellied Grackle in 2010. Our observations suggest that this case of heterochromia may be related to stress and
changes in blood flow to the eye.