Thursday, November 26, 2015

magnificent hummingbirds


All hummingbirds are magnificent but only one is Magnificent (Eugenes fulgens).  We are spending Thanksgiving in Arizona and I just filmed a Magnificent (the larger one) sharing a feeder with a couple of Anna's/Costa's. The Magnificent is, together with the Blue-Throated, the largest of US hummingbirds. It weighs at least twice as much as a ruby-throat, and is 2 inches longer. The adult male has an iridescent emerald-green gorget and violet cap (both visible in the video below). He looks rather dark, almost black, from the sides. and has a white patch behind the eye. It is found only in the mountains of the south west US, Mexico and Central America as far as Panama. There were several at the lodge where we are staying, in the Madera Canyon, and also at the Santa Rita Lodge just down the hill from us, where this video was filmed. There are many other hummers (mostly Anna's and Costa's) buzzing around the feeders there.


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