| The first time I encountered the White-necked Jacobin was on the veranda at the famous Asa Wright Nature Centre in Trinidad. These striking hummingbirds flitted about, heedless of the assembled admiring guests, with their flashing white wing linings making them look like silky butterflies. I was thoroughly enchanted by the birds. Some year later, I found the species to be one of the most common around the feeders at the Canopy Tower in central Panama, where I captured the images below. The image at top shows a male at rest, the white, cowl-like neck inspring the "jacobin" part of the name; at bottom is the female of the species, much plainer than the male, but still quite attractive. |
| White-necked Jacobin turns out to be a seasonal and altitudinal migrant, a familiar phenomenon among neotropical birds. My visit to Panama in July of 2005 found them absent from the Canopy Tower but abundant at the Canopy Lodge, but in May of 2005 the exact opposite was true. I collected some fine footage of jacobins in 2006, the results of which are presented at the top of this page and below. My appreciation of this species' beauty grows with every sighting. |
| I filmed the female White-necked Jacobin pictured at right and below at the Canopy Lodge in January of 2007; this species was abundant at the Canopy Tower this time of year, and this female was the only one I found at the Lodge. Perhaps it was an individual that failed to migrate? Female hummingbirds can present identification difficulties (in part because they are often not illustrated in field guides), but female White-necked Jacobins are thankfully distinctive. Note the scaly throat and breast, the thick, sturdy bill, and the white tips of the tail feathers visible in the image at right. In the pictures below I took advantage of my ability to search my video frame by frame to capture the jacobin in the act of blinking! |
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| 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. |