Myioborus cardonai
The Guaiquinima Whitestart (Myioborus cardonai) is a strikingly distinctive and exceedingly rare member of the New World Warbler family (Parulidae), renowned for its extreme endemism. This petite songbird measures approximately 13-13.5 cm (5.1-5.3 inches) in length and weighs about 10-11 grams, a typical size for a warbler. Its plumage is vibrant, featuring a bright yellow throat and underparts, contrasting sharply with a dark slate-gray head and upperparts. A prominent white patch on the lor...
Exclusively found in humid montane forest and stunted cloud forest formations (tepui summit vegetation) at elevations typically ranging from 1,100 to 1,600 meters above sea level.
Primarily insectivorous, feeding on a variety of small arthropods, including insects and their larvae, which are gleaned from vegetation or captured during brief aerial pursuits.
The Guaiquinima Whitestart is a highly active and diurnal insectivore, constantly on the move through the dense forest understory and mid-canopy of its tepui home. Its foraging strategy involves active gleaning of small arthropods from foliage and bark, often hovering briefly, and making short ae...
The Guaiquinima Whitestart possesses an exceptionally restricted geographic distribution, being endemic solely to a single isolated table-top mountain, the Guaiquinima Tepui (Cerro Guaiquinima), situated in Bolívar State, southeastern Venezuela. It is a strictly resident species, exhibiting no kn...
Endangered
- This bird is an extreme endemic, found exclusively on a single remote tabletop mountain (tepui) in Bolívar State, Venezuela. - Its scientific name, *cardonai*, honors its type locality, the Guaiquinima Tepui, from where it was first described. - The Guaiquinima Whitestart was only discovered re...