The Always Here Bird

The wind has been very heavy again for many days which discourages birds or butterflies on my hillside, but the Rufous-tailed Hummingbird is always here! And they chase off any other species of hummingbirds, but don’t seem to be bothered by the few butterflies I’ve had (maybe thinking they don’t eat much?). 🙂 I had to photograph those two flying pix from a greater distance +the movement and thus not good images, but I still like the action shots as well as the “sitting portraits” like this one . . .

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Rufous-tailed Hummingbird

This is the one bird that never was scared off by the winds (which are still blowing but decreasing). He kept feeding on the flowers and the feeders and allowed other Rufous-tailed to join him, but not other birds. “King of the Garden!” Here he is in one of the trees.

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

See more in my gallery: Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Amazilia tzacatl.

¡Pura Vida!

Gone With the Wind!

So it seems with most birds & butterflies! Except for two! A couple of Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds and a couple of Banded Peacock Butterflies! IT IS VERY WINDY! Yet I caught these two species flying anyway! 🙂

These two Banded Peacocks doing some kind of mating dance in the air!
And this is the male of the two Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds.

¡Pura Vida!

And those were my Monday afternoon photos to get the blog going again! Busy with other things the last two days! 🙂 For more photos of these two hardy creatures, see my Galleries:

A New Rufous-tailed Visited

This older and much larger Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Amazilia tzacatl (my gallery link) was visiting a couple of days ago and has not been back. I think that the smaller and younger one is chasing all other hummingbirds away as if he owns the place. The Blue-vented I had here earlier last month has not returned either. I filled the feeders again, hoping if would attract others, but maybe not with a little boss bird around. 🙂

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird

The Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Amazilia tzacatl (linked to eBird) is a Central American bird overlapping only into the northern edges of South America and found literally all over Costa Rica as can be seen in my GALLERY, Rufous-tailed Hummingbird. It has long been the dominant hummingbird in my garden, often chasing off other species, though now I am seeing just as many or more of the Blue-vented Hummingbird. Here’s two shots of this species in my garden recently, the first a juvenile or immature adult (smaller) and the second a mature adult . . .

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Feeding Every Few Minutes

Hummingbirds are a delight to watch and one thing for sure that you will see, is them feeding on the nectar of flowers or sugar water in a feeder. To maintain the energy necessary for their high-speed flights and almost constant movement they must eat almost constantly as shown here with this Rufous-tailed Hummingbird (my gallery link) in my garden feeding on a Torch Ginger or the more fun Spanish name of Bastón del Emperador.

I have three hummingbird feeders that when I fill them they are empty again in 2 or 3 hours and I imagine that sugar water is not as good for them as flower nectar, so I may quit using again, as I did earlier for about 3 years. As long as I have flowers, I will have hummingbirds and butterflies! 🙂

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird feeding on a Torch Ginger or Bastón del Emperador, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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