Return of Bird of the Week: Talamanca Hummingbird

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. While the species reportedly “fairly common,” there is very little research on it or its cousin, Rivoli’s Hummingbird. At…