Hummingbird Heaven in Ecuador

Hummingbirds really are fantastic! They are beautiful, photogenic, and very cooperative - at least most of them. And Ecuador is blessed with over 130 species of hummers. We saw about 50 species in our 11 or so days of looking, and I got photo images of perhaps 25-30 of those species. While many of the images were of birds sitting at feeders, a setting that I am not very fond of, some species were quite accommodating by sitting at other nearby sites. More hummer images - and other Ecuador bird species - can be viewed on my Flickr Site.

While hummers in general may not display the variety of colors that other groups possess, I think it must be the iridescence of their feathers that makes many of them so attractive to me. Given the right lighting conditions, some look like they have a light bulb inside of them. Others may not be especially colorful or iridescent, but they have unique features like the very long bill on the swordbill hummers or the long tail feathers on the Sylphs. I did manage to get some video of a swordbill hummer coming to a feeder - preceded by several other species. Hopefully, the video will play on your computer. Sometimes on mine, it stops several times before restarting.

Sword-billed Hummingbird - bill seems to be about twice the length of the body. We saw these at several different locations. The following 3 images are Violet-tailed Sylphs - certainly near the top of my list of favorites. The range of colors on the Violet-purple Coronets was among the best of any species and they were very cooperative, often sitting fewer than 10 feet away from me.When the lighting was just right, Sparkling Violetears did just that - sparkled with an amazing brilliance that could be seen from quite a distance.The Shining Sunbeams did not come to feeders so we had to find a cooperative one feeding on flowers, in this case fuchsias. I could not get a shot of a Sapphire-vented Puffleg away from a feeder, so this image will have to do of this very regal looking hummer.The Gorgeted Sunangles were little guys!And the Fawn-breasted Brilliants were pretty common in some locations.This is about the only shot I got of an Empress Brilliant.Collared Incas added some variety with their white throats or "collars". Note the purple top spot.Chestnut-breasted Coronets were extremely tame and at one point, one tried to find some nectar in my ear! This image was taken with the little point-and-shoot camera I had with me. Buff-tailed Coronets were also quite common in places. They had a habit of keeping their wings open for a few seconds when they landed. These little Booted Racket-tails were another species high on my list of favorites. The "boots" and the long tail made this one very easy to ID - not one easily forgotten!Now it is time to try the video. There will be several species at the feeder before the swordbill hummer shows up. Hopefully it will play OK for you!

My next Blog in this series will show the Peoples Faces of Ecuador.