Twinkle the Snowy Bellied Hummingbird
Some of you may know that I live in the bonafide paradise of Boquete, Panama. I mentioned the flowers in my yard a few weeks ago, but I don’t think I told you about my other garden companions–the whimsical hummingbirds.
The most common hummingbirds in my area are the Rufous-tailed and the Snowy-bellied. I’ve spotted the majestic Violet Sabrewing once in my yard, but that was the only time. The Rufous-tails are friendly enough, but the Snowy Bellies are the gang that monopolize our feeder.
If you think hummingbirds are delicate, timid creatures, you’re wrong. The Snowy Bellies are loud and exuberant. They perform aerial dogfights where they swerve and dive at each other, their wings and beaks colliding, to keep intruders away from their food.
They are so intelligent and bold that whenever the feeder is empty, they look through all the windows of the house to see where I am and cheep-cheep at me until I come out. They will find me wherever I am in the yard and buzz inches from my face to tell me they’re hungry. Honestly, these tiny birds, weighing ounces, boss me around.
Over the years The Hubs and I see what looks like a bumble-bee hovering around, only sometimes it isn’t a bee. It’s the teeniest, tiniest bird we’ve ever seen. It’s smaller than my thumb, and it’s quiet and shy. On the rare occasion I do notice it, it hums away before I can get close enough to see its markings.
Right now we have a massive wall of yellow flowers blooming along our fence, and the hummingbirds are using it to feast and congregate. Yesterday, I saw the little dark silhouette against the brilliant petals. I finally sneaked up on the teeny-tiny bird and got close enough to see its white collar. It was still too small for me to make out its colors as it hovered in the shadows. Then he looked up and for a split second the sunlight caught his gleaming throat. I saw a flash of iridescent magenta. I knew I had the clue I needed now.
I looked in my bird book and determined he was the Volcano Hummingbird, a precious little creature only found in the mountains of Chiriqui and Costa Rica. Finally, after all these years we know what species the “bee bird” is.
Look where my finger is pointing in the photo. That’s how tiny it is compared to other small hummingbirds. I hope to get the Volcano Hummingbird on camera one day. For now I have to use an image of a female from Wikipedia. She doesn’t have that gorgeous fuschia neck, but you can see how teeny-tiny this species is. Marvel at the cuteness!
You can see some great photos of this hummingbird on Flickr that I can’t use because they’re copyrighted.
Are you a bird nerd?
What kind of birds do you see in your yard?
What is the most incredible bird you ever saw?
What a beautiful garden you have!
I had an enormous blue heron swoop over me at a park once. That was an experience.
Before I talk about birds, I must say one thing, I think it is wonderful how you observe and appreciate the world around you, how you take in all of the worlds wonders no matter how small put it under a microscope, and proceed to put it down on paper, That is what makes you such a great writer. You see what others walk by miss and never see. You have a gift.
Back to the subject of birds.
When I first moved to Florida I was taking my dog for an evening walk and suddenly this monster swooped down inches from head and scared the hell out of me. It was a Great horned owl with an approximate 4 foot wing span, I suspect it saw my dog as prey. Thank God my dog is a little fatty and he just flew off. The same pair come every year for a couple of weeks. I am guessing that are around three feet tall. They are beautiful. They do have a menacing look as they stare down at me from the top of a boats fly bridge with eerie intensity. When this pair is in town all the small dog owners never leave their dogs unleashed or unintended. Ugh, there have been stories. They are just trying to survive like the rest of us.
Just beware if you have a small pet ( including pet birds) and take precaution.
I’m not a bird nerd, but my spouse is. He’s one of those people who can identify a bird by its song.
They are beautiful. And bossy. They have the attitude of eagles, and it’s always a joy to see one stop by for a drink. More than one, and it’s an aerial display of attitude. And they are the hardest little things to capture with a camera. 🙂
I became a bird-nerd by default when I worked in the Everglades for a couple of winter seasons. My favorite birds were the anhingas. I liked to watch them sit and dry their wings. Living in North Carolina was a great spot for bird watching too. Not so much in my backyard here in Idaho, though I don’t try to attract birds anymore since a dove flew into my bedroom window and broke it. Other than that, the least exciting bird development was a little hawk that took up sitting on the fence near my bird feeder so it could eat the little brown birds that flocked to it. Oh the carnage!
Christa, I love the colibiri article. We have seen more in our yard, but not lately. The first two years we were in Boquete there was more variety (that is when we saw the saberwing).
Joan Neptune US cell: 703-303-7404 AL number 334-209-1715
I don’t consider myself a bird-nerd, but I do see hummingbirds around my yard pretty frequently. They are tiny and timid, and they love my flowering trees. I’ve never been able to get close enough to get a picture, but they are bigger than bees and smaller than sparrows. They are grayish blue in color, mostly. Once in a while I get one with a dash of red on the belly.
Nice post.
FYI-I’m totally jealous of your view!