Trinidad: Blue-chinned Sapphire

Lucky for us that the blue sheen of the Blue-chinned Sapphire is not limited to the chin but rather mixes with the emerald green in an ever-changing and hypnotic melange of color. The male is shown here, in 3 poses on the same perch.

The female is described as having white-tipped green feathers on her underparts. The Blue-chinned Sapphire is fairly common on Trinidad, less so on Tobago, and  ranges well south to Brazil and Peru. Note the straight bill with the reddish lower mandible, and white thighs. The tail is "steel blue" (ffrench, Birds of Trinidad and Tobago). A previous common name for this species was Blue-breasted Sapphire.

You may want to skip the somewhat confusing taxonomy that follows.

The IOC World Bird List places the Blue-chinned Sapphire in the genus Chlorestes, as does ffrench, so we'll go with that convention. Others treat it as a member of the genus Chlorostilbon, which contains about 18 species with the word "Emerald" in the common name. Clements (2007) had it in genus Chlorostilbon, fwiw, but has since moved it back to the monotypic Chlorestes. The current Clement's Checklist is at (http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/downloadable-clements-checklist) and contains a full list of 10,000+ bird species and numerous subspecies, and where they are found.

The IOC, btw, is the International Ornithological Committee, aka IOU.

Trinidad: Copper-rumped Hummingbird

The Copper-rumped Hummingbird was a common sight on our T-T trip, but I never did get a good photo of the copper rump! They are present on both Trinidad and Tobago, with a different subspecies on each island. Male and female are similar. Color is coppery-green on the back and more coppery-brown toward the rump, with royal blue in the wings. The tail is slightly notched and the bill shows pink or reddish color in the lower mandible. When viewed from the front the iridescent green from neck to belly is stunning. There are a few other hummers on T-T with similar striking green underparts, including the Blue-chinned Saphire (rare on Tobago), Blue-tailed Emerald (Trinidad only) and the White-tailed Sabrewing (Tobago only).

Most authorities place the Copper-rumped in the genus Amazilla, which is usually divided into 3 groups. The Copper-rumped is in the Saucerottia group with 6 other species. Clements and others briefly had the Copper-rumped in the genus Saucerottia, but it got lumped back with the Amazillas, all 29 of them! Now for that smashing frontal view:

And one last shot of this common but beautiful hummer. Note the pink/orange lower mandible and the dark blue tail.

Trinidad: Black-throated Mango

Trinidad-Tobago bird are of course different from those in the U.S, and many are different from those in Central America, since Trinidad is very close to Venezuela. We saw about 180 species there, 70 of them new for us.

The Black-throated Mango is a medium-sized, and striking to view on the rare occasions when it sits still, as it did during the shower at Theo Ferguson's "Yerette". There are 7 "Mango" hummers, comprising the genus Antracothorax. The Black-throated ranges down to Brazil, whereas some of the others are limited to Caribbean islands.

Hummingbird common names are interesting. Of the 18 species seen in the U.S., fully 16 have the word "hummingbird" as part of the common name. Quite the opposite in Trinidad-Tobago, where only 2 of 17 species have "hummingbird" in their name. They include: Hermits (3), Jacobins (1), Sabrewings (1), Violetears (1), Mangos (2), Coquettes (1), Saphires (1), Emeralds (2), Goldenthroats (1), Starthroats (1) and Woodstars (1), plus the Ruby-topaz Hummingbird and the Copper-rumped Hummingbird.

Note here how the black of the throat continues down to the abdomen, attractively outlined with bright blue on the neck and chest. The wine colors of the tail are distractingly pretty, although not seen brightly here. The female has a black stripe from throat down to abdomen, outlined in white. Green-throated Mango similar, but of course it has a green throat in decent light. I missed that one!

Trinidad: Brown Violet-ear

One of the highlights of the Trinidad portion of our trip was a Jan 17, 2013 visit to Yerette, Theo Ferguson's self-described Home of the Hummingbird. Theo is an engaging hummingbird fanatic and expert photographer. His home is an ideal setting for viewing the hummingbirds of Trinidad, with up to 13 species possible in a single day. Our visit was punctuated by some overcast and light rain, muting the colors but delighting the hummers who took a break from the feeders to take a rain bath.

Shown here is the Brown Violet-ear, surely one of the least iridescent of all humminbirds. The Violet-ears, all 4 of them, make up the genus Colibri. The Brown Violet-ear is a good-sized hummer with a blue-green throat and violet ear, ranging widely from Belize down to Brazil. Not seen as often as many of the other hummer species in Trinidad, and only rarely on Tobago. Overcast limited the shutter speed here to 1-60th sec., so some sharpness is lost, yet even in the rain we get to see some color. Female's  plumage is similar to male, but duller. This may be the male.