| Violet Sabrewing is a common hummingbird of higher elevations from Mexico south to western Panama. I found this species in the field a few times on my summer 2005 trip through central and western Panama, but I really got to know the bird at the feeders outside my cabin above Guadalupe. A couple of male Violet Sabrewings were very territorial about the two feeders, and chased off interlopers from at least four other hummingbird species. Los Quetzales' upper cabins had many more feeders from which to choose, so a more peaceful state of equilibrium seemed to exist at those sites. The Violet Sabrewings were quite acclimated to human company, and when Mariano, the cabins' caretaker, was refilling the feeders, the hummingbirds swarmed around him, even sipping nectar from his cupped hand. |
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| I collected a great deal of video of the Violet Sabrewings at Los Quetzales, and a few of my favorite stills surround this paragraph. The image above left is a lucky shot given the modest quality of my gear, showing a male Violet Sabrewing with his tongue fully extended. Contrary to popular misconception, a hummingbird's bill is not a straw but a sheath for its nectar-gathering tongue. I'm particularly fond of the shot presented above right, as it shows a great deal of detail of the bird's plumage, and how many different shades of blue and purple add up to a bird that appears uniformly grape-colored to the naked eye. Below left is a nice profile, and a good look at the broad white tips of the sabrewing's tail feathers, which flash brightly in flight. |
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Above right is the only image I collected of a female Violet Sabrewing; I saw significantly fewer females than males during my stay.
Beyond the clues of structure and context, it is hard to identify this bird with the matching illustration in Birds of Panama;
this individual barely shows any white in the tail, and if it has a violet throat-patch it is hidden in this shot. I also admit that I have
no idea of what the juvenille plumages of Violet Sabrewing might look like. For the comparatively few hummingbird species found in the United States
we have a great selection of field guides devoted to the family, illustrating and verbally describing almost all plumage variations. Comparable information regarding
neotropical hummingbirds (or most any birds, for that matter) is hard to come by. Somebody should write that guide....
One final note: since my visit, Michael Gaston Harvey informed me via e-mail that he and Danílo Rodriguez, the primary guide at the Canopy Lodge in El Valle, discovered a population of Violet Sabrewings in a remote area between Cerro Gaital and Altos de Maria. Michael is an undergrad at Cornell, and served as an unpaid resident guide at the Lodge for the summer of 2005, and he and Danílo explored widely and discovered numerous species that were formerly unknown from Coclé province. This new population represents a significant range expansion for Violet Sabrewing. |
| Copyright© Ken Allaire. All rights reserved. Reproduction, modification, or republication of the images or content contained herein without authorization for any purpose or to produce any product is a violation of the copyright herein and is strictly prohibited. |