[RobertaG]

I had this little chap down as a blue chested hummingbird, and had thought to put it on the gallery as there are very few pics of blue chested. Then I saw the picture put up today of a blue chested and doubt set in! So, is it a blue chested or, if not, could it be a violet bellied?

Help appreciated.

[njlarsen]

Violet-bellied is out due to tail shape (notice the slight fork). I think the copper-colored wing coverts and the area around the bill are artifacts of the flash light, and as such I would not be too surprised if your initial feeling is correct.

Niels

[RobertaG]

Thanks Niels, I began to doubt because no other pics of a blue chested look like mine, but then neither do any of my own other shots of them!

I'll stick with my original choice

Roberta

[Birdingcraft]

Violet-bellied would also have a darker belly. Looks good for Blue-chested (a bird that seems to be more common in Panama than Costa Rica).

[RobertaG]

Hi Patrick - I had resized my pic for the gallery (as there were so few shots there of blue chested) and was about to upload when I saw that you had just posted your much clearer pic - and they looked so different it made me doubt my notes!

And of course my last hummingbird query was not a Panama bird at all, so this was not 'another' - I blame the day job for addling my brain!

Roberta

[Birdingcraft]

Originally Posted by RobertaG

Hi Patrick - I had resized my pic for the gallery (as there were so few shots there of blue chested) and was about to upload when I saw that you had just posted your much clearer pic - and they looked so different it made me doubt my notes!

And of course my last hummingbird query was not a Panama bird at all, so this was not 'another' - I blame the day job for addling my brain!

Roberta

I hope you upload it to the gallery anyways- it's a nice shot and there's not too many images of this species and its ID can be tricky because they are pretty nondescript. The differences between the images also show how different hummingbirds can appear depending upon lighting or use of flash. I never knew about the copper highlights this species can show! When birding the Achiote Road in Panama, I recall having a tough time with Blue-chested, Violet-bellied, and Sapphire-throated Hummingbirds- all small, rather nondescript species. I eventually got a handle on them but it took some work!

[RobertaG]

Originally Posted by Birdingcraft

I hope you upload it to the gallery anyways- it's a nice shot and there's not too many images of this species and its ID can be tricky because they are pretty nondescript. The differences between the images also show how different hummingbirds can appear depending upon lighting or use of flash. I never knew about the copper highlights this species can show! When birding the Achiote Road in Panama, I recall having a tough time with Blue-chested, Violet-bellied, and Sapphire-throated Hummingbirds- all small, rather nondescript species. I eventually got a handle on them but it took some work!

Done!

Thanks Patrick