Our first day at Tinamu Reserve in Colombia we were with an English speaking guide for the afternoon and took a walk in the forest just outside of the main lodging and eating area. We spent quite a bit of time watching a golden collared manakin, which was fabulous, but weren't seeing anything else. Then our guide spotted a green hermit and seemed quite excited about it. The guide said it is one of the hummingbirds that does not go to the hummingbird feeders near the lodge.
The green hermit is found: (a) from Costa Rica south to northwestern Colombia near the border with Panama; (b) on both slopes of the three Andean mountain ranges in Colombia; (c) in the Andes of Venezuela; (d) in the coastal ranges of Venezuela; and (e) on the eastern slope of the Andes through Ecuador to southeastern Peru.
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| Green hermit range - from Wikipedia. |
The male is dark green with a blue-green rump; has a dark mask through the eye with buff stripes above and below and down the center of the throat; the central feathers of the tail are relatively short and white-tipped; the bill is reddish, long and decurved (the curve of the bill has the tip pointing down). The females is sooty gray, rather than green below; has a longer bill and a much longer tail.
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| This photo shows the green coloration. |
As with all hummingbirds, the light plays tricks with their colors. Although green, in some photos they appear blue, including my own.
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| This photo makes it look blue, but also shows the red in the bill. |
That beak is humongous relative to the body. Does it have the longest beak of any hummingbird?
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