Green Hermit

Phaethornis guy

eBird provides this description of the Green Hermit:  Large hummingbird with long white-tipped central tail feathers. Male is entirely blue-green; female has gray belly, green back, and obvious stripes on face. Bill extremely long and decurved. Found in forest, but also visits feeders at forest edge. Not easy to see away from feeders; often flies through the forest understory very quickly, occasionally stopping to feed at flowers.

The Birds of the World site introduces this bird like this:  A relatively large hummingbird, the Green Hermit is found in humid forests and forest edges, small clearings, secondary growth, shrubbery, and plantations with dense vegetation. This species has elongated, white-tipped central tail rectrices, which are prominently featured in displays at communal leks during the breeding season while males energetically compete for territories. There are currently four described subspecies of the Green Hermit.

I saw my first Green Hermit on the afternoon of February 5, 2023, during my visit to the Nectar & Pollen Reserve.  Once again, I only have one poor quality photo, since my look at the bird was very brief, and I only had time to get off one shot with my camera.  Although a poor photo, I feel very fortunate to have gotten a shot that allows me to identify the bird.  It won’t win me any contests, but it is good enough for me to add this bird to my life list.  To see my blog post that includes my visit to the Nectar & Pollen Reserve and my sighting of this bird, look here.