During our Birding Buddy Costa Rican trip in April, 2024 we had the opportunity to see an astounding 25 species of hummingbirds! Coming from Illinois where we have regularly have just one type of hummingbird, the variety of hummingbirds in Costa Rica was a treat for the eyes. It can be difficult to photograph hummingbirds because they are so fast and their size is so small the camera has a hard time attaining and retaining focus on them. It goes without saying that you need a very fast shutter speed to capture the wings without motion blur. Here’s a couple of my shots:
Here is a Black-crested Coquette feeding at some delicate flowers. Note the fine feather strands flowing from its crest over its back. Good light allowed me take this shot at 1/3200th of a second.
The Coppery-headed Emerald was one of my favorites. Note that even though I set the shutter speed to 1/2500th of a second there was still some motion blur in the wings.
This shot of a female Purple-throated Mountain Gem was taken at sunrise; there was very little light so I had to set the shutter speed to 1/1000th of a second. There was a lot of motion blur in the wings because of the slow shutter speed.
You may have wondered where the purple throat was in the above picture. The female doesn’t exhibit that trait, but the male does. Here is a perched male Purple-throated Mountain Gem showing its colorful purple gorget. I was lucky to capture it while perched at 1/200th of a second (low-light conditions).
Here’s another perched shot, this time of a Violet Saberwing. Taken at 1/500th of a second.
More Costa Rican hummingbird pics in a couple of days.
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