White-Eared Hummingbird

I saw five lifer hummingbirds at the hummingbird feeders at Finca El Pilar near Antigua, Guatemala on March 21, 2026 with my guide, Bobby. I've previously posted on the azure-crowned, berylline and rufous sabrewing hummingbirds. The light was not great and the viewing area was not great and most of my photos are not great. I only got one semi-decent photo of the white-eared hummingbird. 

It has a dark head that often appears blackish, depending on the lighting, a prominent white stripe extending from the back of the eye downward (diagnostic) and greenish upperparts with some cinnamon edging near the rump. The female has a brownish cap, whitish underparts with green spots and a dark bill with very limited red. The male has a red bill with a black tip. In good light the male's forehead is brilliant purple and the throat is iridescent green. The lower underparts are whitish with heavy green scaling. 

Illustration of a female, ssp. leucotis, from Birds of the World. 

Illustration of a male, ssp. leucotis, from Birds of World. 

I saw ssp. leucotis, the nominate ssp., which is found in the highlands of central and southern Mexico, extending into Guatemala. It is common in the montane pine-oak forests around Antigua. Despite the range map below, ssp. borealis can be found in southern Arizona and occasionally in Texas and New Mexico. It is found at an elevation range of 3,900 to 11,500 feet. 

Range from Birds of the World. 

Rufous Sabrewing

The rufous sabrewing has a relatively small range. It is found on the western slope of the highlands from Sierra Madre de Chiapas in the Mexican state of Oaxaca southeast through Guatemala into El Salvador as far as Volcan de San Salvador in El Boqueron NP. It is found in the interior and edges of humid evergreen montane forest, pine-oak forest at an elevation of 3,000 to 6,600 feet and most abundant above 4,300 feet. At Finca El Pilar, where we were, near Antigua, Guatemala, it was an elevation of about 5,200 feet. 

It is metallic green above and tawny buff below, with a distinct white spot just behind the eye (the rufous underparts and white spot are diagnostic). The shafts of the two outermost primaries (on the wings) are thickened, particularly at the midpoint, and are recurved, forming the "sabre" for which they are named. It has an all-black bill and the outer tailfeathers are rufous and the inner tailfeathers are green, but my photos don't really illustrate that. 

Illustration from Birds of the World.

Range from Birds of the World. 

Berylline Hummingbird

This is a continuation of my last post at the hummingbird feeders in Finca El Pilar outside Antigua, Guatemala. I saw a number of berylline hummingbirds at the feeders and on nearby vegetation. Beryl is a gemstone that forms hexagonal crystals. Pure beryl is colorless (goshenite), but impurities produce green (emerald), blue (aquamarine), pink (morganite), yellow (heliodor) and red (bixbite) variants. "Berylline" means "beryl-like" or having a light blue-green to emerald green color. The berylline hummingbird gets its name because it has the same color as the gem. 

The bills of all males have a black maxilla and a pinkish mandible with a black outer half. 

This is the only photo of mine that has had an identifier on iNaturalist agree that it is a berylline hummingbird. All of the others had the berylline hummingbird as the first option of a list of options. 

White leggings are obvious when perched. 

Males have a bronze-green to coppery head, back and rump. The uppertail coverts and tail are coppery to rufous. The bases of the primaries and secondaries are chestnut and show as a patch on the closed wing. The underparts are a glittering golden green. Females are similar, but with a paler and more grayish throat and belly and their bills are entirely black. Juveniles are similar to females, but have a grayish cinnamon belly. Ssp. devillei has more bronze on the back and rump and a purplish to bronzy chestnut tail. 

Illustration of a female, ssp. devillei, from Birds of the World. 

Illustration of a male, ssp. devillei, from Birds of the World. 

Range from Birds of the World. Ssp. devillei is found in southern Guatemala, El Salvador and central Honduras. 

Azure-Crowned Hummingbird

On March 21, 2026 we were in Antigua, Guatemala and I had a morning birding outing with a guide, Bobby, at La Finca El Pilar, a private nature reserve outside Antigua, which covers 543.6 acres. It covers an elevation between 5,249 feet and 7,874 feet. Near the bottom of the trail there are hummingbird feeders which we spent quite a bit of time at. Bobby would call out hummingbirds as they were at the feeders or nearby on vegetation, as I photographed away, but azure-crowned was not a hummingbird Bobby mentioned. 

I saw subspecies cyanocephala which is found from eastern and southern Mexico (south from southern Tamaulipas) to eastern Honduras and north-central Nicaragua. Males of the subspecies cyanocephala have a bright metallic blue crown and females a duller blue to greenish blue crown. The bills have a black maxilla and a dull pink mandible with a black outer third (easily seen in the illustration below). They have greenish bronze to bronze green rump, uppertail coverts and tail. The underparts are white with metallic bronze green sides to the breast and duller bronze green flanks. Immatures are similar to adults, but duller. 

I posted this photo on iNaturalist and identified it as a green-throated mountain-gem. ryanandrews disagreed and identified it as an azure-crowned hummingbird (he is the 9th highest identifier of azure-crowned hummingbirds with 80 identifications). Another person then disagreed, identifying it like I did, as a green-throated mountain-gem. Then ryanandrews sent a message to sabrewing, the highest (by far) identifier of azure-crowned hummingbirds with 477 identifications (number two is at 176) to weigh in. sabrewing did and agree it was a violet-crowned hummingbird. 

I went back and put my photo through Lightroom again, increasing the concentration of blue to see if it would jump out on the head a little bit more. It did, but not by much. The lighting was not great and my photo is not great and so I am a little bit at a loss. It could be an adult female that has a duller blue to greenish-blue crown, or an adolescent (maybe an adolescent female) that is duller. The Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Northern Central America gives a few clues to the identification. It notes the throat is white with a speckled border. That jumps out. It also notes that the blue crown is "visible in good light." It was definately not good light. Again, I appreciate iNaturalist which exposes the photos to others. If I'd been using ebird I would have put it down completely differently 

Illustration of ssp. cyanocephala from Birds of the World. 

Range from Birds of the World. 

Rufous Mourner

Mourners are part of the genus Rhytipterna, with three species. The rufous mourner is my first mourner. There are two subspecies and I saw the nominate ssp. holerythra, found on the Atlantic slope from Southern Mexico (norther Oaxaca) south to Panama and northern Colombia (east to Santander). I saw it in Tikal NP in Guatemala. It was early in the morning and not a bird my guide noted. 

I have submitted it to iNaturalist but no identifiers are confirmed it. The second option on iNaturalist was a scarlet-rumped tanager. What really confirms it for me is the pale-based black bill, based on photos from Birds of the World, which looks quite a bit different than the scarlet-rumped tanager's bill. 

Illustration from Birds of the World. 

Range from Birds of the World. 

Common Squirrel-Cuckoo

We were in Tikal NP in Guatemala with our guide, Rony, in an area thick with trees. Rony heard the call of a squirrel-cuckoo and was trying to find it. He'd walked up the trail a ways and while I waited I noticed a bird sitting motionless and quietly in the top of a tree. I took a few photos and showed them to Rony when we re-connected, and asked him what it was? He looked closely and then said he thought it was a squirrel cuckoo, but perhaps was an adolescent. I've posted it on iNaturalist and one identifier has confirmed it, the number 4 identifier of common squirrel-cuckoos with 808 identifications. 

There are 13 subspecies. Those west and north of the Andes have greenish-yellow eye-rings and those east and south of the Andes have red eye-rings. Northern populations have shorter tails. I saw ssp. thermophila, also known as the "Middle American" common squirrel-cuckoo. It is found in eastern Mexico (eastern San Luis Potosi and southern Tamaulipas south to Veracruz, Yucatan and the Isthmus of Tehuantapec, south through Central America to Panama and northwestern Colombia. AI notes that the differences of an adolescent from an adult are: (a) adolescents have a grayish bill, instead of a yellow or yellow-green bill; (b) they have a gray eye-ring instead of a red or yellow-green eye-ring; (c) the tail feathers are narrower and less pointed (this is particularly evident); (d) the plumage is more lax, fluffy and shaggy; and (e) the throat is grayer, not as rich in color as the adult's chestnut throat. 

Range from Birds of the World. 

Wood Thrush

We saw a wood thrush in Tikal NP, Guatemala with our guide Rony. It was heavily wooded and quite dark with the thick over-story. I've seen quite a few species of thrush and thought I may have previously seen a wood thrush, but no, it was a lifer.  

As you can see from the range, they are very prevalent in the eastern half of the U.S., where they are summer residents, and through Central America, where they are winter residents. It breeds most commonly in the Appalachian Mountains and parts of the Mid-Atlantic (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, D.C.).