Volcano Hummingbird

Selasphorus flammula

eBird gives this brief description for the Volcano Hummingbird:  Male throat varies from steely grayish-purple to bright magenta; note short straight bill and rufous in tail. Female similar to Scintillant Hummingbird but with dark central tail feathers. Small hummingbird that feeds on small flowers in gardens, second growth, and forest edges, mostly above 2000m.  The Birds of the World site introduces this bird as follows:  The Volcano Hummingbird is restricted to the Costa Rica and Panama Highlands Endemic Bird Area, where it is generally common in highland pastures and open grassland with scrub, usually above 2000 m elevation. This tiny hummingbird is mainly green above, with a brilliant wine-colored gorget in the male (replaced by dark spotting in the female), a white breast band, and greenish (males) or pale rufous (females) over the rest of the underparts. The tail is slightly forked in both sexes, more noticeably so in males. Three subspecies have been named, and these principally differ in the color of the gorget, being purplish gray to brilliant green in the southernmost form. In the non-breeding season, both sexes may defend territories around certain patches of small flowers.

I saw my first Volcano Hummingbird not far from the main crater of the Irazu Volcano northeast of San Jose, Costa Rica.  The bird was busy feeding on flowers and was difficult to photograph.  Below find my best effort.  I saw this bird at several locations during my trip to Costa Rica, and I will post some better photos as I work through my blog post on the trip.