It is 8 AM where I live and I have not yet seen the beautiful weekend photo usually posted by Ron.
I am sure it is yet to come.
But in the meantime here are a couple.
Since I am not a photographer, I asked my niece — Dr. Claudia Krasnoff — for one of her many Colibrí — or Picaflores — photos she took while we were traveling in Ecuador two or three years ago.
The photo, above, is of a Long-tailed Sylph and was taken in Quijos, Ecuador, with an Olympus E-PLI.
Ecuador is home to one of the largest profusions of hummingbirds in the world as well as home to tens of thousands of species of all kinds of other botanical and animal life.
Here’s an excerpt from a previous piece:
According to a 2010 research article in the Journal PLoS One, this “quadruple richness center” encompassing less than 0.5% of the Amazon Basin, has 150 amphibian species, “a world record,” and 121 species of reptiles. An average upland hectare in Yasuní contains 655 species of trees (more than the United States and Canada combined) and 100,000 species of insects. One section of the park holds at least 200 species of mammals, 247 amphibian and reptile species, and 550 species of birds, making the park the most biodiverse and the richest biological incubator on earth.
(Yasuní is that virgin national park in Ecuador’s Amazon rain forest that is now threatened with oil exploitation.)
No post about hummingbirds would be complete without reference to a unique site, “10,000 Birds,” in particular their piece “Twenty Hummingbirds to See Before You Die,” a collection of 20 photos of the most beautiful hummingbirds.
The piece starts as follows:
You are wandering through a tropical rainforest. It is late morning and the humidity seems to rise with every step. Life is crawling, buzzing, slithering, climbing, burrowing all around you. Brightly-colored poison dart frogs light up the dark undergrowth like mobile glow-sticks. Fantastic caterpillars, otherworldly insects, ghoulish spiders, tiny scattering creatures. All aspects of nature fascinate you. But you are here for the birds. And there are none. In fact, there have been none for over an hour. The curse of forest birding – a bird drought. You sit down and wait. Maybe the birds will come to you.
.
BZZZUUUZZZZUUUURRR. What was that? Instinctively you cover your face and neck so that you don’t get stung by a giant forest wasp. BZZZUUUZZZZUUUURRR. And then you see it. A hummingbird is hovering a foot from your bright red T-shirt, zigzagging back and forth. Back and forth. You can see from its bill that it is a hermit. A seriously peeved hermit. The giant red tubular flower that is your T-shirt has gotten the better of this blur of fury. Angrily the hermit spins like a tiny attack helicopter and disappears into the darkness.
My favorite is “Number 11” described as follows:
One could be forgiven for thinking that Booted Rackettails are fictitious characters from a fairy-tale. Not only do these endearing hummers have some of the craziest tails in the avian world, but they also come complete with cotton-wool balls for feet! Were it not for the fact that these hummingbirds are actually remarkably common at places like Tandayapa Lodge, Ecuador, they would probably be at the top of every birders list. Common or not, these little stunners are not to be missed on a trip to Ecuador, Peru or Colombia.
Added: While at “Twenty Hummingbirds to See Before You Die,” please watch the videos: Amazing!
Here’s one — enjoy the beauty of Ecuador:
Have a great “Colibrí weekend”
~.~
Dedicated to my wife, who just loves hummingbirds.
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.