Rufous-tailed Hummingbird 

Amazilia tzacatl

eBird provides this description of the Rufous-tailed Hummingbird:  Handsome, medium-size hummingbird of humid tropical lowlands. Favors forest edge, second growth, gardens in some areas. Feeds low to high and often comes to feeders. Can be difficult to distinguish from Buff-bellied Hummingbird, which favors drier habitats. Rufous-tailed has a dingier, grayish belly and more extensive rusty on the tail, which lacks the distinct fork often shown by Buff-bellied’s tail. Also compare Cinnamon Hummingbird.  The Birds of the World site gives this introductory information about this bird:  The Rufous-tailed Hummingbird is a medium-sized hummingbird. It has a distinctly rufous-colored tail, from which its named is derived, and a bright pink bill. Like other hummingbirds, it feeds on nectar and small insects. It can be highly territorial over feeding areas. The Rufous-tailed Hummingbird is perhaps the most common species of hummingbird at forest edge and in gardens and cultivated areas from southern Mexico south to northwestern South America.

I saw my first Rufous-tailed Hummingbird on the University of Costa Rica central campus on the morning of Saturday, February 4, 2023.  This hummingbird was busily feeding, flitting about a flowering Cape leadwort bush.  Diwö (my guide for the day) identified this bird as a “Cinnamon-tailed Hummingbird”(sic).  After carefully examining my photographs and researching my Birds of Costa Rica book, I believe this bird was a Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, for the following reasons:  I saw no indication of pale rufous colored underparts on this bird, and, the bird was observed in a human altered habitat. For my blog post that includes my sighting of this bird, look here.