Sunday, May 8, 2022

Green-Crowned Brilliant

Where I live in Southern California I only see one species of hummingbird: the Anna's.  It was crazy to go to Ecuador and find four or five species of hummingbird feeding at the same feeder. 

The green-crowned brilliant, also known as green-fronted brilliant and blue-throated flying dolphin (why dolphin - I've got no clue?), is found from Costa Rica to western Ecuador. eBird records 32,247 observations and has 2,641 photos. 
Male with an obvious violet blue throat patch. 

Female with green spotted underparts and white patch behind the eye. 
Males and females look different. The male has a violet blue throat patch, white thighs, a forked blue-black tail, a white spot behind the eye and is otherwise all very glittery green. 
I only photographed males at the Milpe Bird Sanctuary outside of Mindo, Ecuador.


The female has green spotted white underparts, a white spot behind the eye, a white stripe below the eye and a white cornered black tail. 
And I only photographed females at the Amagusa Preserve in Mashpi, Ecuador. 

Note the white thighs. 

1 comment:

  1. This species appears to be the upper class among hummingbirds. Very well-groomed and chic.

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