Anthony’s Short-crested Coquette Photography in Universidad Autónoma de Guerrero Conservation Flyer

Anthony’s Short-crested Coquette (Lophornis brachylophus) photographs were used in collaboration with researchers at the Universidad Autónoma de Guerrero to represent this species in a new conservation flyer focused on its biology, vulnerability, and urgent protection needs. The work involves scientists from the Doctorado en Recursos Naturales y Ecología at the Facultad de Ecología Marina in Acapulco and the Laboratorio de Ecología y Biogeografía de la Conservación at the Facultad de Ciencias Químico Biológicas in Chilpancingo.

Anthony’s photographs continue to be part of the conservation story of the Short-crested Coquette and support the people working so hard to protect this critically endangered hummingbird. Anthony’s clear, close, detailed images that reveal the coquette’s plumage, structure, and personality have been a meaningful way for him to contribute to on-the-ground efforts in the Sierra de Atoyac.

The publication highlights how this tiny hummingbird is a microendemic of the Sierra de Atoyac in Guerrero, Mexico, with a very restricted distribution and a global conservation status of Critically Endangered. It also details the Short-crested Coquette’s importance as a pollinator, regularly visiting at least a dozen native plant species in humid montane forests and shade coffee systems, and the mounting threats from habitat loss, forest fires, and climate change.

Recent conservation efforts described in the flyer include new voluntarily conserved areas, broader protected-area designations that overlap part of the coquette’s potential distribution, and community-based monitoring and environmental education in the Sierra de Atoyac. Anthony’s images were used to help visually connect readers to this elusive hummingbird and to support the work of the Universidad Autónoma de Guerrero team and their partners who are working for its long-term survival.

As an international hummingbird photographer and conservation advocate, Anthony is grateful to collaborate with these researchers and to contribute visual storytelling that can amplify their science-based efforts on the ground in Guerrero and keep the Short-crested Coquette in the spotlight where it belongs.