Blue-Throated Hillstar hummingbird, now down to 100 adults, gets a digital rescue as Ecuador’s conservationists unleash AI high in the Andes. This rare bird’s fate now hinges on algorithms, not just binoculars, in a race against extinction. “We have to act fast,” says one.

Conservationists in Ecuador are swapping field guides for neural networks to track the last hillstars. By using artificial intelligence, the group hopes to spot the elusive birds before time runs out. The sight of laptops glowing at 12,000 feet makes even the hummingbirds stare.

Fewer than 100 blue-throated hillstars exist, found only above 3,500 meters in Ecuador’s Andes.