Shoulder-streaked Firetip (Pyrrhopyge papius)

It's fair to say these were some of the most risky photographs I've ever taken.

I was very high up the Huayna Picchu which looks down on Machu Picchu. We were climbing through cloud when I saw this beautiful butterfly on a shrub hanging off the side of the mountain. The only way to get a photo or two was to lean over, on tip-toe, arms outstretched over the shrub without somehow, disturbing the butterfly.

Looking back, it wasn't wise, and I wasn't expecting much by way of result. But Lady Luck smiled.

The subfamily Pyrrhopyginae comprises 163 known species, most of which are found only in the tropical rainforests and cloudforests of South America.

They share among them, several characteristics including unusually prominent eyes (shown clearly in my lower photo) and thickset bodies relatively large against their wing size.

With that large muscular body, Firetips are very fast flyers, their wings audible in flight.

The name Firetip comes from the crimson-red tuft at the tail which many of them exhibit and which is very evident in the upper photo.

There's no video with these photographs which is a shame, because there are none on this species on YouTube.