July 15, 2018 - Costa Rica - Hummingbirds

I was disappointed in the lack of hummingbird sightings on our trip to Costa Rica in April. My Birds of Costa Rica book has 52 species, but I only saw three of them. I have decent photos of two species and they were all taken at Dave and Dave’s Nature Park in La Virgen. This is a male White-necked Jacobin Hummingbird.

HummingbirdJacobinWhiteneckedmaleDaveandDave'sNaturePavillionCostaRica20180407

Here he is getting nectar from a Heliconia flower. This photo has a better view of the white on the back of the neck for which he is named.

HummingbirdJacobinWhiteneckedmaleDaveandDave'sNaturePavillionCostaRica20180407

The female White-necked Jacobin is less colorful than the male, as is the case in many bird species.

HummingbirdJacobinWhiteneckedfemaleDaveandDave'sNaturePavillionCostaRica20180407

This is a juvenile male White-necked Jacobin. He hasn’t fully transitioned to adult plumage yet.

HummingbirdJacobinWhiteneckedjuvenilemaleDaveandDave'sNaturePavillionCostaRica20180407

Here’s the juvenile male in flight, approaching a Heliconia flower.

HummingbirdJacobinWhiteneckedjuvenilemaleDaveandDave'sNaturePavillionCostaRica20180407

The second species we saw at Dave and Dave’s was a Scaly-breasted Hummingbird. Males and females look alike. They have a green back and black wings, fairly typical of many hummingbirds. The name comes from the neck and chest feathers which are dark with white edges giving them a scaly look. There is a tiny patch of white on the end of the tail. That comes from the white tips of the two outer tail feathers on either side.

HummingbirdScallybreastedDaveandDave'sNaturePavillionCostaRica20180407