The Elusive and Unique

In a recent post about all the cool plants and animals I have been seeing, my Dad commented that “real avian beauty can be appreciated by locating elusive and unique hummers.” I’m not sure if this comment was meant simply as a concluding sentence, or a not-so-subtle prod to urge me to find more than just the “cartoon like” Montezuma’s Oropendula; I’ll respond as if it were the latter. Shake off your sass Pops, cause look what I found!

This little guy, the Snowcap Hummingbird, is endemic to Costa Rica and a rare sight to see. I had gotten  up early in the morning to check out the hummingbirds, and was shocked to see this little martian come zipping into the clearing. He is tiny, approximately 3 inches tall, and when he flies he looks like a creature from a futuristic movie; his white patch glows brilliantly in the morning sun, making him hard to miss. He’s fiesty too. The other hummingbirds in the area are largely territorial, and when he visited their tree they were eager to chase him off. He put up quite a yapping fight before his fluorished exit. What a cutie!

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