Jewels with Wings

 

Like a glittering coat of chainmail, iridescent feathers capture and reflect the light. Costa Rica is home to more than 50 species of hummingbird, including this green violetear. Amazing.

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Color-shifting feathers dazzle in direct light or become flat or even black at a different angle. This stripe-tailed hummingbird's glittered like emeralds. Wow.

A purple-throated mountaingem was a fantastic photo subject at Monteverde, where I spent two days photographing hummingbirds. Time well spent! 

Green-crowned brilliant. Brilliant!

Violet sabrewing. These are the largest hummingbirds I saw at Monteverde. They bullied the other hummers.

Green-crowned brilliant.

Stripe-tailed hummingbird. Many hummingbirds eat mosquitoes and other insects when they're not sipping flower nectar or sugar water from a feeder. This one patrolled a fruit tree.

A green violetear provided good views all day as it perched around feeders at Monteverde.

A green-crowned brilliant and a green violetear share a branch. The feeders draw hummingbirds in closer proximity than they normally tolerate. The birds are territorial and will defend their favorite flower bushes from interlopers.

A green hermit uses its long bill to reach nectar deep in a flower petal.

Stripe-throated hermit.

Why do hummingbirds get the most lyrical names? Unless I'm mistaken, this female hummingbird is a bronze-tailed plumeleteer. We should be as poetic with all bird names.

Rufous-tailed hummingbird. I saw them in La Fortuna, Arenal and Monteverde.

Magenta-throated woodstar. What a name. What a bird.

Violet sabrewing in dappled sunlight.

A green thorntail at the Arenal Observatory & Lodge gardens. I spent an afternoon photographing hummingbirds between downpours.

Purple-throated mountaingem female.

A green thorntail jealously guards his flower patch at Arenal Volcano.

The magenta-throated woodstar is a bee hummingbird, one of the tiniest birds on Earth. They sound like a bumblebee when they fly next to you. The smallest bird is a bee hummingbird found in Cuba. But at 3 grams, this woodstar weighs less than a nickel!

The biggest bird on Earth (by wingspan) is the wandering albatross, which I found in January. So that means I saw some of the biggest and smallest birds on the planet in the same year!

Violet sabrewing. The blue feathers look black in the shadows.

Green violetear. Best bird of the trip! They let me take lots of photos. And the close bird is the cool bird.