Return of Bird of the Week: Talamanca Hummingbird
Talamanca Hummingbird, Costa Rica
When WC first saw this species, it was called Magnificent Hummingbird. But ornithologists decided to split Magnificent Hummingbird into two species. So the Costa Rican subspecies became the Talamanca Hummingbird, and the more northerly subspecies became Rivoli’s Hummingbird. There is officially no longer a species with the common name, Magnificent Hummingbird. Which is too bad, because this species is pretty magnificent. The new name comes from the Cordillera de Talmanca, one of two mountain ranges in which the bird is found.
Talamanca Hummingbird, Costa Rica
While the species reportedly “fairly common,” there is very little research on it or its cousin, Rivoli’s Hummingbird. At 13 centimeters (5.12 inches) long and ten grams in weight, it’s a medium-sized hummingbird, fairly aggressive around other hummingbirds and boasts a spectacular head and gorget in the right light. Which, unfortunately, WC hasn’t yet photographed.
This species likes montane oak forests, but is especially common “at edges and breaks in [the] canopy or in adjacent second growth.” It’s generally found above 2,000 feet up to treeline, which in Costa Rica is above 10,000 feet. Most often the female lays two eggs and does all the incubation and feeding of the hatchlings.
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