Fiery-throated Hummingbird, Savegre Hotel, Costa Rica

Catching the “fire” on a Fiery-throated Hummingbird’s throat is one of the greatest photographic challenges you are likely to encounter. The bird is basically black, but it shows various shades of green and blue iridescence over most of its body, and flashes of many blues and purples around the upper chest and head in the right light. You catch hints of the yellow and red-orange at the throat when it is sitting, but only when it flies are you likely to catch the full fire. We sat in the hillside garden above the Savegre Hotel high in the cloud forest of the Talamanca Mountains of Costa Rica for 4 hours one day, and I had hundreds of chances at perched Fiery-throated Hummingbirds at all angles (though they do like to tuck back in under leaves in the shade when it is not raining), and only caught the true fire in one flight shot, and that not the best. Still, I enjoy a challenge! Sony RX10iii at 600mm. Program mode. Processed in Polarr and assembled in FrameMagic. (If I had had the Sony RX10iv at the time, with its superior focus, it would have been easier, but the RX10iii did well. An absolutely brilliant shot of the fire on Fiery-throated Hummingbird’s throat is on my list for the next, December 2018, trip to Costa Rica!)