Costa Rica Hummingbirds

There are more than 300 species of hummingbirds in the world (all of them in the Americas). Of them, only 1 (one) can be found in the northeastern US. To see the rest of them, you have to travel to the tropics.

Costa Rica lists 30 hummingbirds. We saw 13 of them on our visit. By far the most impressive place, hummingbird-wise, was the gallery next to the entrance to Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve. Well, gallery is a bit of an overstatement - it was a cafe with about a dozen feeders hung outside. The hummers were buzzing around like flies. They are fiercely territorial - they can't even stand having others feeding next to them - so there were a lot of fights, Antman-style. But it did allow for some pretty good shots!

And I love their names! This one is a Purple-Throated Mountain Gem:


Green Violetear:


Green-Crowned Brilliant:


Violet Sabrewing:


Here is a couple of Green-Crowned Brilliants:


Another Green-Crowned Brilliant:


Another interesting aspect of hummingbirds is their iridescent colors. Their feathers are actually colorless. The color comes from the light filtering through their feather structure, and it changes depending on the angle. For example, here are three pictures of the same bird, Purple-Throated Mountain Gem:






Magenta-Throated Woodstar:


Green-Crowned Brilliant:


Purple-Throated Mountain Gem:


Green Violetear:


Green-Crowned Brilliant - male:


Green-Crowned Brilliant - female:


Violet Sabrewing:


Green-Crowned Brilliant - female:


Green-Crowned Brilliant - male:


Stripe-Tailed Hummingbird:


Green-Crowned Brilliant:


Scaly-Breasted Hummingbird:


Blue-Throated Goldentail: