Fiery-throated Hummingbird
Panterpe insignis
eBird describes the Fiery-throated Hummingbird like this: If you see the throat in good light, there is no mistaking this beauty: no other hummingbird combines every color of the rainbow on the throat and breast. In poor light, could be mistaken for other fairly large hummingbirds like Talamanca Hummingbird. Look for dark blue-black tail, medium-length bill with pink at the base, and blue rump, or just wait for it to turn its head. Sexes alike. Found in montane forests and edges, mostly from 1500m to treeline. Frequently visits feeders.
The Birds of the World website provides this descriptive information for the Fiery-throated Hummingbird: The Fiery-throated Hummingbird is the sole member of the genus Panterpe and is endemic to the highlands of Costa Rica and western Panama. Two subspecies are recognized, with P. i. eisenmanni being limited to the Cordillera de Guanacaste, in far northwest Costa Rica. Males and females of both subspecies are similar to one another in appearance, generally appearing green with a blue tail. From an appropriate angle, the observer can also glimpse the glittering, golden-copper throat and the glittering blue crown. The center of the species’ abundance is in highland oak forests at 2,000‒2,500 m elevation; more generally, Fiery-throated Hummingbird inhabits montane and cloud forests, second growth, shrubby sub-páramos, or highland pastures with trees. Within the forest, the birds spend most of their time in the canopy but come much lower near edges, openings, and in second growth. It shares many morphological features—such as relatively broad wings, large feet, and a straight, slender bill—and a generalist diet with the coquettes (genus Lophornis) and a high-Andean clade of hummingbirds.
Fiery-throated Hummingbird most frequently forages at epiphytic flowers, by piercing long-tubed corollas or by using holes made by bees or the nectar-robbing Slaty Flowerpiercer. Both sexes are aggressive and defend flower-rich territories during the non-breeding season. During the breeding season, males continue to defend resource-rich flower patches and permit females to extract nectar from their flowers. Fiery-throated Hummingbird is considered to be the dominant hummingbird species in its distributional range; large numbers of this bird may swarm around artificial feeders sited in or close to appropriate habitats.
I met my first Fiery-throated Hummingbird at Paraiso Lodge on the late afternoon/early evening of February 8, 2023. The upper hummingbird station at Paraiso was literally swarming with Fiery-throated Hummingbirds during my visit, which squares nicely with the information on the Birds of the World website about them being dominant around feeders that are in their habitat. I was able to get some fairly decent photos of this very beautiful bird!
A Slight Correction…
As I worked on my blog section dealing with my sighting of the Fiery-throated Hummingbird at Paraiso Lodge on February 8, 2023, I kept having a nagging thought– I have seen this bird before! So, as I was finishing up this gallery, I took the time to go through my photos from the previous day, and, sure enough, I had briefly seen this bird the day before at Miriam’s Cafe. As you can see from the pictures below, the light was not such that the colors of the bird were readily apparent, so I missed this sighting on that day’s blog post. So, being the lazy human that I am, a correction of the record involved a lot less work than going back and redoing the February 7th and 8th blog posts. Please accept my sincerest apologies for this oversight!
