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Hummingbird highlights in Northern Peru
January 8, 2024
Peru is home to more than 120 species of hummingbirds. More than half of the species of hummingbirds can be found in Northern Peru in a variety of landscapes. Hummingbirds are a treat for bird photographers, with their beautiful colors, small size, wings as fast as lightning, and confident behavior. Our Hummingbird Photo Tour in Northern Peru (14 days) is especially designed to photograph around 50 species of hummingbirds in their natural habitats in beautiful gardens with feeders. During the tour we are offering the best possible photo opportunities, including multi-flash equipment for the most beautiful photos of these fascinating small birds. In this blog, we will talk about some of the hummer highlights that we will be able to photograph during this tour.
Marvelous Spatuletail
We will start off with one of the most beautiful hummingbird in the world: the Marvelous Spatuletail (Loddigesia mirabilis). This magnificent hummingbird only lives in a small area of Northern Peru. Its body is very small with a blue crown, an iridescent green throat, and a “black tie”. It’s the tail that makes this bird so special: it is extraordinarily long with spatulas on the outer most two tail feathers. The males use their tails in fascinating courtship displays for females, during which they rattle their 2 long tail feathers above their heads.
The Marvelous Spatuletail likes humid forest borders and montane scrub where it feeds on various flowers, with the red flowers of the Bomarea formosissima as one of their favorites. It is interesting to see how such a small bird can maneuver its way through the scrub with such a long tail. But it seems to be able to do it effortlessly and very fast. It is a challenge to photograph this birds, but very rewarding.
The species is listed by IUCN (The International Union for Conservation of Nature) as endangered, due to the destruction of its habitat for firewood, slash-and-burn agriculture, and cattle grazing. Male Spatuletails are also hunted with slingshots because their dried hearts are believed to have aphrodisiac properties…
One of the places that we will visit during our Hummingbird Photo Tour, is the Huembo Reserve. This reserve is located near the town of Pomacochas in the Department of Amazonas. NGO ECOAN (Asociación de Ecosistemas Andinos) purchased the property to protect the Marvelous Spatuletail and preserve its habitat. The reserve has a lodge with Santos Montenegro Tantajulca as coordinator and source of information about the Spatuletail. The feeders that are located right next to the lodge rooms, are visited by the Spatuletail and many other species of hummingbirds like the Andean Emerald, Lesser Violetear, Purple-throated Sunangel, Green-tailed Trainbearer, Little Woodstar, Chestnut-breasted Coronet, Sparkling Violetear, Bronzy Inca. We can photograph from sunrise to sunset and to enjoy the beautiful views of the green and misty mountain slopes at the same time.
From the town of Pomacochas, it is a short walk through a small farmers community to the second place where we will photograph the Marvelous Spatuletail at the land of farmer Hidelber Nuñez and his family. It is an idyllic place that Hidelber is preserving for the Spatuletail. There are several feeders that provide great photo opportunities.
Rufous-crested Coquette
Another of our favorite hummingbirds is the tiny and photogenic Rufous-crested Coquette (Lophornis delattrei), that lives on the east slopes of the Andes and in the Amazon Forest (600–2000 m.) The males have a striking, elongated, rufous crest, that they can put straight up, and which gives them a fierce look. The tiny body is glistering green with a short rufous colored tail and a white band. They feed on nectar and can be found circling around flower crowns. The beautiful gardens of the Waqanki Lodge in Moyobamba provide excellent photo opportunities for the Rufous-crested Coquette. Males and females can be seen feeding on flowers, displaying (sometimes in flight), and even fighting. The lodge also houses a big variety of orchids, which makes a stroll through the orchid garden very well worth it.
Royal Sunangel
The Royal Sunangel (Heliangelus regalis) is another striking and special hummingbird that we hope to photograph during our Hummingbird Photo Tour. We will visit the hummingbird garden of Fundo Alto Nieva in Northern Peru that is visited by the Royal Sunangel. The male is entirely dark blue with deep, shimmering violet-blue plumage. Its black bill is short and straight, the tail long and forked. Females look very different with a dark green feather coat above and rich cinnamon with bronzy green discs below. A buffy breastband separates the throat and chest.
The species lives in a narrow and very fragmented range along the east slope of the Andes in northern Peru and southeastern Ecuador. It has been sighted in less than 10 locations. The Royal Sunangel likes “elfin scrub” the most, which is a dry grassland habitat with mossy forest and small bushes between 1500 and 2200 meters above sea level. Its feeds on nectar and insects and is fiercely territorial at its feeding areas. Males chase and attempt to intimidate intruders, including other males and even large insects.
The Royal Sunangel is part of a sub-group of hummingbirds known informally as the “Andean clade.” The hummingbirds of this group, which includes six other sunangel species as well as the Booted Racket-tail and Rainbow Starfrontlet, share common features that include similarities in nest construction, courtship behavior, and vocalizations.
The IUCN listed the Royal Sunangel as Near Threatened, due to its small, fragmented range and special habitat that is under threat from cultivation and deforestation.
We will be able to photograph many more interesting and beautiful hummingbirds during this 14-days Hummingbird Photo Tour, like the Black-bellied Thorntail, Golden-tailed Saphire, Rufous-vented Whitetip, Peruvian Racket-tail, Emerald-bellied Puffleg, White-chinned Saphire, Koepcke’s Hermit, Black-throated Hermit, Equatorial Piedtail, and the White-browed Hermit, to name just a few.
We will also have chances to photograph other (rare) bird species, like the Chestnut Antpitta, Ochre-fronted Antpitta, the fantastic Long-whiskered Owlet, and the Johnson’s Tody-Flycacther. The last two species were only recently “discovered” by science.
If you are interested in the detailed itinerary and price for this unique tour, please get in touch with us.
Not only for photographers hummingbirds are fantastic, but also for birders. During our Northern Peru Birding Tour, we will be able to see the Marvelous Spatuletail, Rufous-crested Coquette, and the Royal Sunangel as well.
Written by Eva Wu – Photos by Steve Sánchez & Eva Wu
References
Info on the Marvelous Spatuletail and the Rufous-crested Coquette: www.birdsoftheworld.org and www.iucnredlist.org.
Info on the Royal Sunangel: www.abcbirds.org
Kuntur Nature and Adventure EIRL
Company Address: Av. Industrial Conj. Hab. FOVIPOL. Nr 104 – Santiago – Cusco – Peru
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