THERE ARE MORE THAN 350 species of hummingbirds—nearly one for each day of the year. All are “New World” species, found only in the Americas. We have seen hummingbirds everywhere in Brazil—the country claims more than 80 species—but Jonathan’s “fazenda” was the most target rich environment yet. His farm is way hell and gone down a muddy, bumpy road not far from Ubatuba.. But it’s worth the drive—especially in a rented van with Eduardo doing the driving.
Non-hummingbirds gather for a free lunch at Jonathan's
Versicolored Emerald
Sawbill Hermit
Hundreds of hummingbirds at a time hover and dive among Jonathan’s dozen homemade feeders and perch in the bushes along with other cuties like green honey-eaters, tanagers of all hues, red-rumped caciques and whatever is looking for a free lunch.
White-chinned Saphire
Violet-capped Woodnymph
Admission for our group was five kilos of sugar and a bunch of ripe bananas. We identified 12 different species of hummers—with a little help from Andrés, of course. Photographing them was a bit daunting—I kept taking photos of the least active and most colorful—but we eventually got them all.
"Lekking" Violet-crowned Plovercrest
Green-crowned Plovercrest on the lek
Not all of the hummers come to feeders. We had to search on muddy trails in thick forest for both the Purple-crowned Plovercrest and the Green-crowned Plovercrest. We found each perching on his lek, flashing for females. Once again we couldn’t have done it without Andrés.
