HUMMINGBIRDS   -   TROCHILIDAE   -   PART V

Sapphire-vented Puffleg Eriocnemis luciani luciani Yanacocha reserve, Pichincha province, Ecuador. Probably a female due to the shallow notch in the tail. The flash from the camera made the colors seem unnatural. Normally they don't appear so golden.

Sapphire-vented Puffleg Eriocnemis luciani luciani Yanacocha reserve, Pichincha province, Ecuador. Probably a male due to the deeply forked tail.		Golden-breasted Puffleg Eriocnemis mosquera Yanacocha reserve, Pichincha province, Ecuador. Golden-breasted Pufflegs occur together with Sapphire-venteds at Yanacocha, though they are less common.

Golden-breasted Puffleg Eriocnemis mosquera Yanacocha reserve, Pichincha province, Ecuador.

Buff-thighed Puffleg(?) Haplophaedia assimilis assimilis Manu road between Pillahuata and San Pedro, Cusco department, Peru. I'm not 100% certain about this one. I think it is a juvenile Buff-thighed Puffleg, mainly from size, jizz, and location. The leg puffs are not evident, and the rump was not visible.

Purple-bibbed Whitetip Urosticte benjamini Tandayapa Bird Lodge, Pichincha province, Ecuador. Male. That's a male Purple-throated Woodstar in the lower left of the frame.

Booted Racket-tail Ocreatus underwoodii melanantherus Tandayapa Bird Lodge, Pichincha province, Ecuador. Male.

Booted Racket-tail Ocreatus underwoodii melanantherus Tandayapa Bird Lodge, Pichincha province, Ecuador. Male.

Booted Racket-tail Ocreatus underwoodii melanantherus Tandayapa Bird Lodge, Pichincha province, Ecuador. Female.

Black-tailed Trainbearer Lesbia victoriae victoriae Bosque Protector Jerusalem Male.		Red-tailed Comet Sappho sparganura sapho Cuesta del Obispo, Salta province, Argentina. Male. Thought to be closely related to Black-tailed Trainbearer (right), and they do look fairly similar in these photos. They also both favor similar habitats.

Ecuadorian Hillstar Oreotrochilus chimborazo jamesonii Reserva Ecologica Antisana, Napo prov., Ecuador. Male. One of the highest ranging hummers in the world, regularly getting up to 4600 m (15000 ft), and sometimes even higher.		Ecuadorian Hillstar Oreotrochilus chimborazo jamesonii Reserva Ecologica Antisana, Napo prov., Ecuador. Female.

Tyrian Metaltail Metallura tyrianthina tyrianthina Guango lodge, Napo province, Ecuador. Male.		Tyrian Metaltail Metallura tyrianthina tyrianthina Guango lodge, Napo province, Ecuador. Female. The tail of this race should look coppery, but it looks violet in this shot, probably due to the camera flash.

Bronze-tailed Thornbill Chalcostigma heteropogon Páramo del Tamá, Táchira state, Venezuela. Male. This species just barely makes it over the Colombian border into Venezuela. This photo was taken less than a kilometer from the border.

Gray-bellied Comet Taphrolesbia griseiventris Rio Chonta, Cajamarca department, Peru. Male. A rare and endangered north Peruvian endemic. There were no reliable sites for it until it was found in the Rio Chonta near Cajamarca in 1999.

Long-tailed Sylph Aglaiocercus kingi mocoa Cabañas San Isidro, Napo province, Ecuador. Male.

Violet-tailed Sylph Aglaiocercus coelestis coelestis Tandayapa Bird Lodge, Pichincha province, Ecuador. Male. It mostly replaces the Long-tailed Sylph (A. kingi) in the Chocó region. A common visitor to feeders in the Tandayapa-Mindo area.

Violet-tailed Sylph Aglaiocercus coelestis coelestis Tandayapa Bird Lodge, Pichincha province, Ecuador. Another male, but with a much shorter tail, either a younger bird or one that had recently moulted its tail feathers.		Violet-tailed Sylph Aglaiocercus coelestis coelestis Tandayapa Bird Lodge, Pichincha province, Ecuador. Female. Females are much less common at the Tandayapa feeders than males.

Venezuelan Sylph Aglaiocercus berlepschi Cerro Negro, Monagas state, Venezuela. Female. This species is endemic to the isolated northeastern mountain ranges of Venezuela. While the male is very similar to the widespread Long-tailed Sylph (A. kingi), the female is unique in the genus in having all white underparts.

Hyacinth Visorbearer Augastes scutatus scutatus Serra de Cipó, Minas Gerais state, Brazil. Female on a nest, 12 June 2006.		Hooded Visorbearer Augastes lumachella Chapada Diamantina, Bahia state, Brazil. Female. A nice comparison of nests between these two sister species. Those leaves unfortunately block most of the nest, but it was impossible to set the tripod up anywhere else. Photographed 18 Sep 2007.

Hooded Visorbearer Augastes lumachella Chapada Diamantina, Bahia state, Brazil. Male. You usually don't see the brilliant head iridescence unless he looks right at you.		Hooded Visorbearer Augastes lumachella Chapada Diamantina, Bahia state, Brazil. Male. A different angle showing the tail color.

Black-eared Fairy Heliothryx auritus auriculatus Itatiaia National Park, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. Male, showing green on his throat. This seems to be quite a rare species in the Atlantic Forest. I've only seen it a couple of times in that region.

Long-billed Starthroat Heliomaster longirostris longirostris Barquilla de Fresa Lodge, Bolívar state, Venezuela. Male, because of the brilliant blue crown.

Stripe-breasted Starthroat Heliomaster squamosus Serra da Canastra NP, Minas Gerais state, Brazil. Male. Endemic to Brazil, though it does have a fairly large range.

Amethyst Woodstar Calliphlox amethystina La Escalera (Sierra de Lema), Bolívar state, Venezuela. Male. Interestingly, this species is monotypic even though it ranges through most of tropical South America.

Purple-throated Woodstar Calliphlox mitchellii Tandayapa Bird Lodge, Pichincha province, Ecuador. Female.

Little Woodstar Chaetocercus bombus Milpe, Pichincha province, Ecuador. Female. A rare bird in NW Ecuador. Note the washed out tawny underparts and the black subterminal band.

Esmeraldas Woodstar Chaetocercus berlepschi Rio Ayampe, Manabí province, Ecuador. Male. One of only a handful of species endemic to mainland Ecuador. It is seriously endangered and still very poorly known. Easy to see for a few months of the year along the Ayampe river, but most ot all of them seem to leave from about May to November.

Rufous-shafted Woodstar Chaetocercus jourdanii andinus Above La Azulita, Mérida state, Venezuela. Male.

Volcano Hummingbird Selasphorus flammula torridus Savegre Lodge, San José province, Costa Rica. Female.

Website design and all photos copyright Nick Athanas
For questions, comments, or photograph licensing info, please email