Pygmy Heleia

Spectacular flycatcher with a long and deeply forked tail. Grayish overall with a white throat and a black half collar that is continuous with the eye stripe. The wings are black with a cinnamon patch. Females have a slightly shorter tail. Usually found around palm groves, marshes, and grasslands near water. The call is sharp but melodic “djewp,” and during their hilarious noisy duet display, they cheerily raise and lower their head and raise their tail with wings open.

Very large for a hummingbird; size alone separates from many other species. Males are green overall with darker blackish chest and belly. Head appears black until it hits the light and reveals an iridescent purple crown and green throat. Females duller with grayish belly, mottled greenish sides, and speckled gray throat. Separate from Blue-throated Mountain-gem by longer bill, more speckled appearance on underparts, and smaller white tail corners. Used to be called Magnificent Hummingbird, but recently split into Rivoli’s Hummingbird (from southwest U.S. to Nicaragua) and Talamanca Hummingbird (found in mossy cloud forest in Costa Rica and Panama). Visits hummingbird feeders.

A sunbird that is closely tied to water, most often encountered in mangroves, farmlands, and along large rivers as far inland as Mali. Gray-brown above and dingy gray-white below with distinctive bright white spectacles and a relatively large, short bill without much of a curve. Could be confused with other plain-colored sunbirds, but note its distinctive white spectacles and close association with large rivers and coastal areas. Calls and song are similar to those of other sunbirds, consisting of short, metallic whistles.