birding, photography and living with pet birds
Posted in Costa Rica, hummingbird on Jan 5th, 2013
One of the more interesting birds in the hummingbird family in Costa Rica is the Band-tailed Barbthroated Hermit. He was always underneath trees, so the pictures are a bit blurry, but you can see how long and curved his beak is. He would get very excited and sing, allowing you to see the [...]
Posted in hummingbird on Sep 16th, 2012
I know I already posted about Broad-tailed Hummingbirds this summer. But this time they’re drinking from purple flowers! Also, this time I can show you every angle of these birds. The females have rufous underneath their wings and white eye rings. And look at her little claws. They also [...]
Posted in hummingbird on May 27th, 2012
I was going to write about birds from Costa Rica but I took a quick trip to Red Butte Garden today and I have fantastic pictures of a Broad-tailed Hummingbird. Here’s the male from very far away. They look a lot like the Anna’s Hummingbird because of the ruby throat, but the Broad-tailed [...]
Posted in hummingbird on Mar 1st, 2012
We’ve been focusing lately on birds and animals in Costa Rica, but I can’t wait any longer to show you these mind blowing pictures of an Anna’s Hummingbird that I took with the 500mm Nikkor lens in Golden Gate Park. I have so many photos building up now, but hummingbirds take priority! Golden Gate Park [...]
Posted in Costa Rica, hummingbird on Feb 2nd, 2012
You’re not tired of hummingbirds are you? Because I took a lot of pictures of the male Violet Crowned Woodnymph to show off here: These guys were very common around the lodge because they love these purple flowers that were planted everywhere. In a certain light, the woodnymph’s throat is bright green. It’s such a [...]
Posted in hummingbird on Oct 2nd, 2011
I didn’t show you all my hummingbird pictures from Arizona. I wanted to save a couple. The Calliope Hummingbird is the smallest of all hummingbirds. The males have streaky pink feathers under their chins. Depending on the angle of the sun, the streaks are more or less obvious. This are the same two birds on [...]
Posted in hummingbird on Apr 29th, 2011
The Magnificent Hummingbird is an Arizona speciality. You can see the migration map here. They barely appear in the United States and I got to see one in Miller’s Canyon. I like how he can raise the feathers on his head. I didn’t see any other hummingbirds doing this. We were able to see [...]
Posted in hummingbird on Apr 22nd, 2011
Last week I promised you a Rufous Hummingbird and here he is: When these guys hit the light they are spectacular. I haven’t seen one since my early days of birding in California. And that bird might have actually been an Allen’s Hummingbird – they look so similar. But this is without question [...]
Posted in hummingbird on Apr 14th, 2011
From the Broad-billed Hummingbird to the Black-chinned Hummingbird. The Black-chinned Hummingbird is on the right in the above picture. In most shots his chin looks black but in direct sunlight his chin is purple. Here’s a hint: Except for the chin, his colors are actually pretty muted. His chest is really white. The [...]
Posted in hummingbird on Apr 7th, 2011
I just came back from a five day birding trip in Patagonia, AZ. Patagonia is twenty miles north of Mexico, which means that you get to see a lot of Mexican birds without crossing the border. They also get a ton of migratory species. . I saw eight different kinds of hummingbirds and over fifty [...]