We only have a few months each year to spend gazing and admiring beautiful hummingbirds. During these months, we get a chance to adore their beauty in our backyards, gardens, and parks.
Here are the top 10 most fabulous hummingbird species:
White-neck Jacobin
The White-necked Jacobin is found primarily in southern Mexico, Central America, and Colombia, as well as the Amazon and Orinoco Basins.
Male White-neck Jacobins have brilliant green upper parts, a blue head and breast, a white crescent on the neck, and white on the belly and the majority of the tail. The females, on the other hand, have quite diverse plumage, and some can resemble males.
The white-necked Jacobin (Florisuga Mellivora), also known as the Jacobin hummingbird, big Jacobin, and Colibri Jacobin, is an apodiform bird native to Mexico, Costa Rica, South Brazil, and Bolivia.
Golden-tailed Sapphires
The male Golden-tailed Sapphire is predominantly green, with a violet cap or blue head and an iridescent azure neck and breast. The females have green on top and light gray on the bottom, with varying amounts of green specks on the sides of the throat, breast, and belly.
Both sexes have distinctive coppery-golden tail and upper tail coverts, with the male having more saturated coverts. The bill is almost perfectly straight and black. The Golden-tailed Sapphire looks similar to the Rufous-throated Sapphire, except it has a black beak and a green neck and breast.
The Golden-tailed Sapphire is rare and ubiquitous in Amazonia.
Purple-crowned Plovercrest
Purple-crowned Plovercrest measures 8.5 to 9.5 cm (3.3 to 3.7 in) in length. Males weigh approximately 3.7 g. (0.13 oz). The bill of both sexes is shortish, straight, and black.
The crest of adult males is shaggy violet-blue. The color of their face, chin, and throat are brownish, with a white area behind the eye. Their upper bodies are yellowish-green. Their underparts are gray with a blackish violet-blue lower throat to upper belly.
Their tail feathers are green, with a blackish band near the end and whitish tips on the central two pairs. The crest of adult females and children is substantially smaller. Their upper parts are likewise yellowish green, with gray underparts.
The Purple-crowned Plovercrest, also known as the violet-crowned Plovercrest, is a species of hummingbird in the tribe Trochilini of the subfamily Trochilidae. Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay are among the countries that are lucky to have these birds.
Wire-crested Thorntail
The Wire-Crested Thorntail is one of the tiniest birds on the planet, weighing only 2.5 g (0.088 oz) at maturity. Males are approximately 11.4 cm (4.5 in) long, and females are around 7.5 to 8.2 cm long (3.0 to 3.2 in).
Adults of both sexes have coppery green upper parts with a white rump band. Males have a gleaming green crown and a slender hair-like crest. It has an iridescent green gorget, brownish flanks with a white patch, and black underparts.
The tail is steely blue with white feather shafts that are severely forked, and the outer feathers are quite thin, giving the bird its common name. The female is missing the crest.
On the cheek, there is a broad white streak. It has black underparts with a white spot on the flank. It has a slender, somewhat forked tail that is blue-black with white tips. Juveniles are comparable to adult females.
The Wire-crested Thorntail (Discosura Popelairii) is a species of hummingbird in the tribe Lesbiini, subfamily Lesbiinae. These beautiful birds can be found in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and perhaps Bolivia.
Shining Sunbeam
Both male and female Shining Sunbeam are short, straight, and black. Neither sex has white plumage, which is unusual among sunbeams.
Males of the nominate subspecies have a dark brown crown and upper back, with a lilac-gold lower back and rump that turns silvery green on the upper tail coverts. Their tail feathers range from dark brown to rufous, with bronzy margins. Their throat is rufous with dusky gray spots, their breast is patchy buff, and their belly is reddish brown.
The male's underparts increase brighter from north to south, his crown darker, and his tail redder. Females resemble males, but the gold and green of the lower back and rump are duller or missing.
Shining sunbeam is a hummingbird species of the Trochilidae family. It’s native to Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland are their native habitats.
Gould’s Inca
The black head, orange collar, and predominantly green body of the Gould’s Inca. Their undertail feathers are white, whereas the upper tail feathers are rufous. The humid Andean woodland of south-eastern Peru and Bolivia is home to the Gould’s Inca Hummingbird.
The Gould’s Inca (Coeligena Inca), sometimes known as the Collared Inca Hummingbird, is a common hummingbird in South America.
Blue-bearded Helmetcrest
One of the world’s rarest and most endangered hummingbirds, found exclusively in Colombia’s Santa Marta Mountains at extremely high elevations.
They can't be found in typical birding locations, and spotting one requires a multi-day camping trek across extremely steep terrain.
The adult male has a striking green and blue beard, black and white head pattern, and hairy crest. Females and younger males lack crests and beards. They are distinguished by their small stature, short bill, and white collar.
Snowcap Hummingbird
Male Snowcap Hummingbirds are unusual and gorgeous, with crimson wine-colored bodies and dazzling white heads. They are unmistakable in close quarters.
Females, on the other hand, have creamy white underparts and short straight bills. You can usually spot them eating on little purple flowers in gardens and along forest margins.
The Snowcap, like the Honduran Emerald and Mangrove Hummingbird, can only be found in Central America.
Rufous-crested Coquette
Male Rufous-crested Coquette hummingbirds have a beautiful spiky orange crest; each feather is tipped in black. You can see them from far away with their greenish color, black neck, and prominent white line across the rump.
Females are far less noticeable from afar. But you can look for a petite stature, a rufous forehead and throat, and a white stripe across the rump.
The species is found in the Pacific and Caribbean mountain ranges of Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Costa Rica, with at least one sighting in western Brazil.
Marvelous Spatuletail
The Marvelous Spatuletail is only found in the Andean cloud forest of northern Peru. The male, with his extravagant tail, blue crown, and iridescent green neck, is one of the world’s most stunning birds.
He molts his characteristic tail feathers on occasion; thus, it is not uncommon to see males missing one or both rackets or with one much longer than the other.
Females are mostly green above and white below, with a white spot below the eye, a speckled throat, and slightly extended tail feathers with blunt points.
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