Hummingbirds tend to frustrate me on two levels. First, I find when there are a lot of species present they can be hard to identify: the male and female of the same species can look very different, on the other hand many species look very similar, and if I’m generally unfamiliar with them they all blend together. Second, I find them very difficult to photograph: they flit from flower to flower so quickly I can’t get a focus on them, when they are at a flower they only stay a second or two, and unless the light is very good the wings are going to be a blur (because I have to use a slower shutter speed). It turns out the best place to photograph a hummingbird is at a feeder because they linger there and return to it regularly, but I don’t like taking pictures of birds at feeders (the hand-of-man is in the image). Nevertheless, I took hundreds of pictures of hummingbirds while in Ecuador because I can’t resist trying to get a GreatBirdPic of them. Here are some that I took in Yanacocha Reserve.
By far my favorite hummingbird at Yanacocha was the Shining Sunbeam. This cinnamon-colored bird was a regular at the feeders. This one, like many hummingbirds, had a favorite perch and once I found it I could take pictures of it easily (but perched shots are not as exciting as BIF shots).
The back of the Shining Sunbeam was the highlight of this hummer’s features. When the sun bounced off its back it was like looking at a rainbow!
Hummingbirds were coming in and out of the feeders all the time. One technique I use to capture BIF shots is to focus the camera on the feeder and then wait for a hummer to fly in. Since the focus point is already pretty close to where the hummer is, it doesn’t take much for the camera to refocus on the bird a foot away from the feeder. Some of the hummers hovered before landing and again after pushing off from the feeder, which gives more time to get a few shots in.
Another frequent visitor to the feeders at Yanacocha was the Buff-winged Starfrontlet. The buff-colored patch on its wing made the ID easy. Even though I don’t like sharing pics of birds at feeders I couldn’t resist this one with its beak open emitting a little squeak.
Perched out in the open you can get an appreciation of the long bill on this hummer.
These next two are BIF shots as the Starfrontlet approached the feeder – note their tongue sticking out in each!
All the above pictures of the Buff-winged Starfrontlet were of females. Below is the only shot I got of a male – note the violet patch on its chin.
Here’s a Great Sapphirewing coming in for a drink at the birdbath. Look how blue its wings are.
Pufflegs were a whole new family of hummingbird we observed at several locations in Ecuador. As the name implies, each species of puffleg has a thick cloud of feathers around their legs they reminded me of some Uggs). The first type of puffleg we saw was the Sapphire-vented Puffleg. Note the sapphire-blue on the underside of the tail feather hanging down.
Equally impressive was the Golden-breasted Puffleg which had a diffuse patch of gold from their chin to their belly.
Hope you enjoyed a first look at some of the hummingbirds we observed in Ecuador. More to come as there were hummingbird feeders everywhere we went and it seemed like a whole different batch of hummers were at each location.
Links to previous posts of our Ecuador Birding Trip:
How to prepare for and get the most from your bird tour
Our Ecuador Birding Trip – Preliminary Data
Our Bird Tour In Ecuador – Overview
Birding a City Park in Downtown Quito, Ecuador
Out of Quito to Reserva Yanacocha
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