‘Royal’ creature briefly takes up residency on farm in Ecuador for first time
On a farm in Ecuador, a “royal” creature flitted around a patch of trees and paused to feed on the flowers. Something about it caught the attention of employees — and for good reason.
It turned out to be a first-of-its-kind sighting.
Carlos Proaño, an employee at Jungle Dave’s Farm, a private conservation site and functioning farm, was at work in November 2023 when a colorful bird near a “small patch of bushes” caught his attention, according to a study published Sept. 30 in the peer-reviewed journal Check List.
Intrigued, Proaño snapped several photos and showed them to co-workers. The team quickly identified the bird as a female royal sunangel, an at-risk species of hummingbird, the study said.
Royal sunangels, or Heliangelus regalis, are a “medium-sized hummingbird” species found in humid forests of “northeastern Peru and southeastern Ecuador,” researchers said. Males are “vibrant violet-blue,” and females are “dark green with a cinnamon-colored underside.”
The farm’s sighting was a first for the region and “the first documented occurrence of Heliangelus regalis in the Andes (mountains),” the study said.
After spotting the royal sunangel, researchers “conducted daily surveys” to monitor the bird. They watched it “feeding on the flowers” of a specific shrub and “resting.”
A YouTube video shared by Jungle Dave’s Science Foundation in 2024 shows the hummingbird flying up to a branch, drinking nectar from several flowers and flying away. Other photos show it while perching on the plant.
The royal sunangel stayed on the farm for 58 days before leaving in December 2023, the study said. It has not been seen again at the site.
Based on their observations, researchers believe the royal sunangel “was a transient visitor… Its presence in an atypical habitat may reflect exploratory behavior possibly triggered by habitat disturbance or changes in resource availability, such as those resulting from ongoing deforestation and mining” in the regions of Ecuador where the species typically lives.
The team suggested “ongoing ornithological surveys” to support conservation efforts at the farm and the wider region.
Jungle Dave’s Farm is in southeastern Ecuador and near the border with Peru. A YouTube video shared by Jungle Dave’s Science Foundation shows the site.
The research team included Proaño, Aini Chamba and David Goucher.
This story was originally published October 2, 2025 at 10:18 AM with the headline "‘Royal’ creature briefly takes up residency on farm in Ecuador for first time."
