Great day at the feeders!

Yesterday, I joined Osvaldo Quintero, Rafael Luck and Itzel Fong in a day-trip to Cerro Azul, the gated community in the foothills to the east of Panama City.  Our destination was Birder's View, known by its well-kept hummingbird feeders and lush garden attracting many species of birds.  At our arrival, we were attracted to the feeders... just like the tons of hummingbirds swarming around!

What a great spectacle!  Both White-necked Jacobin and Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer (like the one above) were the most common species.  Those red feet are so distinctive among the Panamanian hummingbirds.  Other common species was the Snowy-bellied Hummingbird.  Notice the sharp contrast between the iridescent green breast and the snowy white belly.  They have an easily recognizable call, quite metallic in quality.

As I said before, Cerro Azul is the most reliable site (in the world) to find the near-endemic for Panama Violet-capped Hummingbird.  This bird is very special... and beautiful... the only member of the genus Goldmania.  With the right angle, these birds literally glow!

The same for this Crowned (Violet-crowned) Woodnymph.  Usually, it looks pretty dark... almost black, but then... PAM!  Shock of color!

Other common species at the feeders were the Rufous-tailed Hummingbird and Green Hermits.  In fact, one of these hermits was trapped inside the house.  Luckily, Carlos (the house keeper) rescued him and released it smoothly.

Some other regular species were present in lower numbers, like the Violet-headed Hummingbird (one of my favorites) and the stunning Purple-crowned Fairy.  This one looked like a stuffed bird!

The Long-billed Starthroat and the Green-crowned Brilliant made a single appearance, not enough for photos.  However, we did not lack subjects to photograph.  Not only hummingbirds were attending the feeders: Bananaquits, Green, Red-legged and Shining Honeycreepers were trying to slurp a bit of sugar water.  We even saw a male Yellow-faced Grassquit drinking at the feeder.

What a great day in the foothills!

Today's hummingbirds of Cerro Azul

This post is an excuse to show you the nice collection of hummingbirds that visit he feeders at Cerro Azul, a gated community in the foothills east of Panama City.  Osvaldo Quintero, Osvaldo Quintero Jr., and myself visited the Ahrens' house, invited by Leslie and Cindy Lieurance (The Petrels in Panama), where Claudia received us for a while before we headed to a nearby trail to birdwatch (that story in another post).  I will show the hummingbirds in, more or less, taxonomic order.  All the photos were taken today at the Ahrens or Lieurance feeders (except for one, you'll see).

And the taxonomic list starts with a VERY beautiful hummingbird: the White-necked Jacobin is simply spectacular... and the most common hummingbird in both houses.

The hermits are not exactly colorful hummingbirds, but impressive in their own way.  This Stripe-throated Hermit is the smallest of the hummingbirds seen today, and this one in particular preferred the semi-hidden feeder below the table!

In the other extreme, the Green Hermit was the largest hummingbird we saw... it will fly right in front of you just for curiosity!

The stars at the Ahrens' feeders were the two (probably three) Brown Violetears present since some time ago.  This species is particularly rare and erratic in Panama, so having them visiting feeders is simply good news!

In the other hand, the star at the Lieurance's feeders was the single Long-billed Starthroat that waited patiently to drink among the numerous jacobins.  The shiny red throat is hard to see, and to photograph of course.

Among the panamanians hummingbirds, the Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer is unique due to those conspicuous red feet!

Usually, the male Violet-crowned Woodnymph looks quite dark, almost black, under normal light conditions... but this bird really glows with the adequate angle.

The Amazilias hummingbirds are a very distinctive group present in almost every feeder... and the most ubiquitous is the Rufous-tailed Hummingbird... this one was singing! (can you see the "rufous"?).

The Blue-chested Hummingbird only showed itself for two seconds... this photo is from Cerro Azul, but of a different trip.

In spite of the bad light, the Snowy-bellied Hummingbird is unmistakable due to its sharply demarcated white belly and metallic call.

And last, but not less important, the tiny Violet-capped Hummingbird is almost endemic to Panama, barely reaching Colombia and the single member of it genus Goldmania (named in honor of Mr. E. A. Goldman, who collected the type specimen in Cerro Azul, back in march of 1911).  Cerro Azul is certainly the easiest place in the world to see this bird.  This is a female, the glorious male didn't want photos!

Eleven species!  Not bad for a single day just sitting in front of well-kept feeders!

Coquette and others hummers in Cerro Azul

The last place visited during our saturday trip to Cerro Azul (foothills east of Panama City) was the lovely home of our good friends Williams and Claudia Ahrens (both members of The 600 Club). They are full time residents in Los Altos de Cerro Azul, and they have banana and hummingbird feeders all over their place. After trying to find the Rufous-crested Coquette in Birders' View, Rafael Luck, Osvaldo Quintero and your blogger host, headed to the Ahrens' place (after seeing only the regular Violet-headed Hummingbird at the supposed coquette site). As usual, the place was full of birds, not only hummingbirds, but also tanagers, honeycreepers and woodcreepers among others. Bill and Claudia welcomed us warmly and invited us to check their feeders, where we immediately saw the usual suspects, mainly White-necked Jacobins, but also some Amazilia hummingbirds and even a male and female Violet-crowned Woodnymph (female on a feeder). We were surprised with the answer to our question about the coquette: Bill said "ahhh, she is at the feeders right now, or in the Verbenas outside". What!!??? The coquette was there all the time? Just seconds after his answer, I saw a little black dot leaving the feeder that he pointed, heading to the purple flowers of the Verbena : a female Rufous-crested Coquette!!! We all started shooting while the beautiful creature was quietly visiting the flowers, with its tail cocked up and looking like a big bee. They say that at least two female-plumaged birds have been visiting their grounds in the past few day, one probably is an immature male. An adult male often appears too, but not recently. We were lined up in front of the Verbena, only the shooter's noise was heard. Definitively, we looked like paparazzis taking photos of a celebrity, the coquette certainly is one. Then, Claudia saw another specialty of her garden visiting one of the feeders, a Long-billed Starthroat that quickly flew to a perch in a pine tree. The colourful gorget (the "star" throat) is hard to see in the field, but the white moustache and the long and straight bill are diagnostic. The coquette reappeared in the same bush, and we took many more photos. Eventually she left the place, leaving us astonished! We barely paid attention to the others hummers in the property, despite a Snowy-bellied Hummingbird did its best to show us that it can be radiant too, showing its glowing feathers with the sun. Thank you Bill and Claudia, and lets us know if the male coquette appears!