Hummingbirds – Dennis Binda :: Wildlife Photography

Costa Rica Birds

Costa Rica Birds

The magnificent hummingbird (Eugenes fulgens) is a large hummingbird. It is the only member of the genus Eugenes. The bird breeds in mountains from the southwestern United States to western Panama. The female magnificent hummingbird is bronze-green dorsal

Magnificent Hummingbird

The rufous-tailed hummingbird (Amazilia tzacatl) is a medium-sized hummingbird that breeds from east-central Mexico, through Central America and Colombia, east to western Venezuela and south through western Ecuador to near the border with Peru.

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird

The plain-bellied emerald (Amazilia leucogaster) is a species of hummingbird in the Trochilidae family. It is found from north-eastern Venezuela, through the Guianas, to around São Luís in Brazil. The flanks and upperparts are green, often tinged golden on the lower back and rump, while the underparts are white. The central rectrices are golden, while the outer rectrices are dark blue with narrow whitish tips. The slightly decurved bill is black with a flesh-coloured base to the lower mandible. Individuals are usually territorial and tend to feed alone close to the ground, collecting nectar from herbs, trees, and shrubs. Smaller disjunct populations are found in north-eastern Brazil as far south as Bahia. It occurs in a wide range of semi-open habitats, primarily in coastal regions. You can often find the along the humid edges of the forest, second growth, plantations, gardens and in mangroves It is generallya fairly common hummingbird and is therefore not considered vulnerable.

Plain-bellied Emerald

The Scaly-breasted Hummingbird is a fairly large, unadorned hummingbird It is found in Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily deg

Scaly-breasted Hummingbird

The sapphire-throated hummingbird (Lepidopyga coeruleogularis) is a shiny metallic-green hummingbird found in Panama, Colombia, and more recently Costa Rica. The sapphire-throated hummingbird has a full shiny metallic-green plumage, except for its darker

Sapphire-throated Hummingbird

The sapphire-throated hummingbird (Lepidopyga coeruleogularis) is a shiny metallic-green hummingbird found in Panama, Colombia, and more recently Costa Rica. The sapphire-throated hummingbird has a full shiny metallic-green plumage, except for its darker

Sapphire-throated Hummingbird

The snowy-bellied hummingbird is found in Costa Rica, Panama and far north-western Colombia.mIt's small hummingbird, the snowy-bellied measures just 10 cm (3.9 in). The Snowy-bellied Hummingbird’s clean white belly and its green chest are diagnostic wi

Snowy-bellied Hummingbird

The sapphire-throated hummingbird (Lepidopyga coeruleogularis) is a shiny metallic-green hummingbird found in Panama, Colombia, and more recently Costa Rica. The sapphire-throated hummingbird has a full shiny metallic-green plumage, except for its darker

Sapphire-throated Hummingbird

The rufous-tailed hummingbird (Amazilia tzacatl) is a medium-sized hummingbird that breeds from east-central Mexico, through Central America and Colombia, east to western Venezuela and south through western Ecuador to near the border with Peru.

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird

The rufous-tailed hummingbird (Amazilia tzacatl) is a medium-sized hummingbird that breeds from east-central Mexico, through Central America and Colombia, east to western Venezuela and south through western Ecuador to near the border with Peru. Rufous-tai

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird

The green hermit (Phaethornis guy) is a large hummingbird, it is about 13.5 cm (5.3 in) long and weighs 6.3 g. It has a reddish bill that is and curved. he female is sooty gray (rather than green) below, with an even longer bill and a much longer tail.

The violet sabrewing (Campylopterus hemileucurus) is a very large hummingbird native to southern Mexico and Central America as far south as Costa Rica and western Panama. It is the largest hummingbird found outside of South America and the largest sabrewi

Violet Sabrewing

The coppery-headed emerald (Elvira cupreiceps) is a small hummingbird endemic to Costa Rica. Like all hummingbirds, the coppery-headed emerald feeds on nectar and small invertebrates. Because its bill is short, it forages at small flowers.

Coppery-headed Emerald

The Scaly-breasted Hummingbird is a fairly large, unadorned hummingbird It is found in Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily deg

Scaly-breasted Hummingbird

The black-bellied hummingbird (Eupherusa nigriventris) is a species of hummingbird in the family Trochilidae. It is found in moist forest and edge at middle elevations on the Caribbean slope in Costa Rica and Panama

Black-bellied Hummingbird

The green hermit (Phaethornis guy) is a large hummingbird, it is about 13.5 cm (5.3 in) long and weighs 6.3 g. It has a reddish bill that is and curved. he female is sooty gray (rather than green) below, with an even longer bill and a much longer tail.

The purple-throated mountaingem (Lampornis calolaemus) is a hummingbird which breeds in the mountains of southern Nicaragua, northern Costa Rica and western Panama. The adult male has bronze-green upperparts and underparts except for a brilliant green cro

Purple-throated Mountain-gem

The violet sabrewing (Campylopterus hemileucurus) is a very large hummingbird native to southern Mexico and Central America as far south as Costa Rica and western Panama. It is the largest hummingbird found outside of South America and the largest sabrewi

Violet Sabrewing

The green-crowned brilliant (Heliodoxa jacula) is a fairly large hummingbird that lives in the highlands of Costa Rica all the way south to Equador. Unlike many hummingbirds, the green-crowned brilliant almost always perches to feed.

Green-crowned Brillant

The purple-throated mountaingem (Lampornis calolaemus) is a hummingbird which breeds in the mountains of southern Nicaragua, northern Costa Rica and western Panama. The adult male has bronze-green upperparts and underparts except for a brilliant green cro

Purple-throated Mountain-gem

The green-crowned brilliant (Heliodoxa jacula) is a fairly large hummingbird that lives in the highlands of Costa Rica all the way south to Equador. Unlike many hummingbirds, the green-crowned brilliant almost always perches to feed.

Green-crowned Brillant

The Coppery-headed Emerald (Elvira cupreiceps) is a small hummingbird endemic to Costa Rica. It measures a mere 3 in (7.6 cm) in length, and weighs only 3 g (0.11 oz). The male has distinctive coppery crown and rump with a whole green belly and white vent. The female has a white belly and a narrow black subterminal band on white outer rectrices of the tail. Its noticeably decurved bill sets it apart from similar the allopatric White-tailed Emerald. Endemic to Costa Rica, this small hummingbird is found in the highlands of the Caribbean slope or at higher elevations along the Pacific slope. Coppery-headed Emeralds prefer cool, wet, highland forests and their edges, but also occupy pastures with trees, second growth, and shaded coffee plantations. Within the forest interior, males spend the majority of their time in the canopy and females remain in the understory. However, around edges and gaps in the forest, both sexes forage at all heights on small flowers. During the breeding season, a handful of small males sing together and chase after each other at lek sites. Following the breeding season, most males and females descend to elevations of 300-600 m. Elvira emeralds are small hummingbirds with a relatively short bill, and a short, notched tail with mostly white outer rectrices. The body of Coppery-headed Emerald is mostly green, but the crown, rump and uppertail coverts, and the central pair of rectrices all are coppery bronze. The bill of Coppery-headed Emerald is mostly black, and is slightly decurved. The sexes are similar, but the female is white below, speckled with green. The crown, upper tail, and central tail feathers of the male are copper. Interestingly, males found in the Cordillera de Guanacaste boast a purple spot in the center of the chest, while birds found elsewhere in the country do not. The small size, mostly white tail, and coppery rump of Coppery-headed Emerald render this species difficult to mistake for other species of hummingbird. There is no geographic overlap with White-tailed Emerald (Elvira chionura), which has a straighter bill and green crown and rump. Eupherusa hummingbirds (Stripe-bellied Hummingbird Eupherusa eximia and Black-bellied Hummingbird Eupherusa nigriventris) are larger, with straight bills, have rufous secondaries, and have green crowns and rumps. Male Snowcap (Microchera albocoronata) is mostly purple, with a white crown; female Snowcap is white below. Adult male: Crown dull coppery bronze. Nape, back, scapulars, and rump bronze green. Uppertail coverts bright coppery bronze. Central pair of rectrices bronze (much less coppery than the uppertail coverts); four outer pairs of rectrices white; the three outer pairs are tipped with pale gray, and the outermost pair is tipped with black. Wing coverts bronze green. Remiges mostly dusky purplish brown, but the inner secondaries are bronze green. Underparts bright yellowish metallic green; undertail coverts pure white. Adult female: Upperparts metallic green (less bronzy than the adult male). Uppertail coverts and central pair of rectrices bright bronze (more coppery on the uppertail coverts). Four outer pairs of rectrices white, with a V shaped subterminal bar of gray or dusky, the outerpair also tipped with black or gray, and edged with blackish along the terminal half. Remiges as in the male. Underparts dull white or grayish white, becoming pure white posteriorly; the flanks are more or less spotted with metallic green. Immature male: Similar to adult male, but coloration slightly duller, especially on the underparts, and the four outer pairs of rectrices are tipped with black or grayish black. Like all hummingbirds, the Coppery-headed Emerald feeds on nectar and small invertebrates. Because its bill is short, it forages at small flowers, including those in the genera Besleria, Cavendishia, Clusia, Guarea, Pithecellobium, Quararibea and Satyria. It feeds at all levels in mature wet montane forest and forest edges. Males form small leks at middle levels of forest edges Calls of Coppery-headed Emerald are described as -a high, thin, liquid quip or quit or rapid high sputtering in chases- (Stiles and Skutch 1989). The song of male Coppery-headed Emerald is -weak [and] warblerlike - (Slud 1964) and a -high, thin, twittering and warbling- (Stiles and Skutch 1989). The coppery-headed emerald (Elvira cupreiceps) is a small hummingbird endemic to Costa Rica. Like all hummingbirds, the coppery-headed emerald feeds on nectar and small invertebrates. Because its bill is short, it forages at small flowers.

Coppery-headed Emerald

The green thorntail (Discosura conversii) is a small hummingbird that is a resident breeder from Costa Rica to western Ecuador. These birds visit small flowers

Green Thorntail

The green-crowned brilliant (Heliodoxa jacula) is a fairly large hummingbird that lives in the highlands of Costa Rica all the way south to Equador. Unlike many hummingbirds, the green-crowned brilliant almost always perches to feed.

Green-crowned Brillant

The black-bellied hummingbird (Eupherusa nigriventris) is a species of hummingbird in the family Trochilidae. It is found in moist forest and edge at middle elevations on the Caribbean slope in Costa Rica and Panama

Black-bellied Hummingbird

The violet sabrewing (Campylopterus hemileucurus) is a very large hummingbird native to southern Mexico and Central America as far south as Costa Rica and western Panama. It is the largest hummingbird found outside of South America and the largest sabrewi

Violet Sabrewing

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