Bulletin 271 - Ecuador 2016 #5 - Hummingbirds

These are the places visited. At the end of each bird description, I will give the 2 letter code where the photo was taken.

Shiripuno Lodge in Amazon  (SH)
Archidona a town on the east slope  (AR)
San Isidro Lodge at a higher elevation on east slope (SI)
Antisana reserve on the paramo    (AN)
Yanacocha reserve   (YA)
Mindo area on west slope has several close reserves that we visited (MI)

Hummingbirds are one of my favorites and are the most amazing birds with their ability to hover and fly backwards and upside down. I photographed about 2 dozen new species on the trip. The rarest of the hummers on the trip was the 7.5" male Fiery Topaz (Topaza pyra). The range map just shows a few dots in the Amazon region where one might find it. However, at Shiripuno lodge, a pair roosts on a branch over the water at night and you can go about 100 yards from the lodge by boat and just wait until they fly in at 5:30. Amazing. The unique tail with crisscrossed extended feather is the ID mark.  SH

Fiery Topaz - male

Several others had interesting tails as well. The 9" male Black-tailed Trainbearer (Lesbia victoriae) is green with 2 long tail feathers.   AN

Black-tailed Trainbearer - male

The 7" male Long-tailed Sylph (Aglaiocercus kingii) is green with 2 long shimmering blue tail feathers.  SI

Long-tailed Sylph - male

His cousin, the 7" male Violet-tailed Sylph (Aglaiocercus coelestis) has a purple tail.  MI

Violet-tailed Sylph - male

The cute 4.5" male Booted Racket-tail (Ocreatus underwoodii) looks like he has white fur boots on along with the racket tail.   MI

Booted Racket-tail - male

Pufflegs are hummers that have boots like the racket-tail above. The 4.5"  Sapphire-vented Puffleg (Eriocnemis luciani) is green with blue under the tail and white leg puffs.   YA

Sapphire-vented Puffleg

The 4.5" Golden-breasted Puffleg (Eriocnemis mosquera) has gold breast, green body and white leg puffs.   YA

Golden-breasted Puffleg

I like the name of this next one. The 4.5" Shining Sunbeam (Aglaeactis cupripennis) is a rich coppery brown.    YA

Shining Sunbeam

The 4.75" Sparkling Violetear (Colibri coruscans) is green with a blue belly and violet on the sides of the face.     AN

Sparkling Violetear

The 4.5" White-tailed Hillstar (Urochroa bouqueri) is green with a blue throat, bronze rump and white tail underneath.   AR

White-tailed Hillstar

I have updated my hummingbird family photo and now have 111 species of the 348. You can browse them all at this link.

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2016 David McDonald

To have these trip reports sent to your email, please email me at the above address and ask to subscribe.

Bulletin 241 - Best of 10 years #9 - Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds are unique in the bird world in that they can hover, fly backwards and fly upside down and even fly backwards while upside down. The are 345 species and all are in the New World. These sparkling birds are the jewels of the bird world and include the smallest bird. Hummers are favorites of birders and non-birders alike, who often try to attract them to their yards with feeders. I have photographed about 20% of all the hummer species and I have picked 14 for this bulletin.

There are 18 species in the the Sibley North American guide, 4 of which are vagrants from Mexico. The best place to see the many species in the USA is in southeast Arizona during late summer when up to a dozen species can occur. The first 2 here were taken in Arizona.

The Broad-billed Hummingbird has a bright blue throat and red bill.

Broad-billed Hummingbird - male

The Costa's Hummingbird has a bright purple throat and crown.

Costa's Hummingbird - male

My trip to Costa Rica in March 2015 produced several favorites. The first is the Black-crested Coquette. The male has a wispy black crest. Coquettes are target birds for all birders.

Black-crested Coquette - male

The tiny male Snowcap with his reddish-purple body and white top of head is another target bird in Costa Rica.

Snowcap - male

The Fiery-throated Hummingbird has the most amazing multi-colored gorget.

Fiery-throated Hummingbird

The large male Violet Sabrewing is a stunning purple with a contrasting white tail.

Violet Sabrewing - male

Another large hummer is the Magnificent Hummingbird. This photo was taken in Costa Rica, but this bird also can be found in Arizona. The male is a beautiful with his turquoise gorget and purple crown.

Magnificent Hummingbird - male

The Violet-headed Hummingbird produced a beautiful photo as he fed on a heliconia flower.

Violet-headed Hummingbird

The recent Ecuador trip also produced its share of favorites. The Long-tailed Sylph is the first of the hummers with long streamer tails I have found.

Long-tailed Sylph

This Brown Violetear posed right up close so all his feather detail could be seen.

Brown Violetear

The Violet-bellied Hummingbird sat on a leaf.

Violet-bellied Hummingbird - male

The Andean Emerald has snow white underparts. I just like his expression, the way his head is cocked up to the right.

Andean Emerald

Lastly, I have a couple of hummers from my yard. The first is a Buff-bellied Hummingbird that wintered in my yard for 6 years in a row.

Buff-bellied Hummingbird

The other is a beautiful male Rufous Hummingbird who sat on a dead hibiscus leaf that matched his coloration.

Rufous Hummingbird - male

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2015 David McDonald

To have these trip reports sent to your email, please email me at the above address and ask to subscribe.