Yrette 4/4--6 Life Hummingbirds & a Honeycreeper

Yrette's backyard

After packing up we drove through Tunapuna's narrow, incredibly congested streets where every other store seems to be bar or an auto repair shop, up into the hill to a private home that Theo, the owner, has opened to the public (by appointment) to the view the fabulous number of hummers he gets at his feeders.

Everywhere you turn in his medium-sized yard you find hummingbird feeders crowded by hummers, as wells as Bananaquits, Yellow Orioles, and my favorite bird, so far, PURPLE HONEYCREEPER. Hummers are hard for me because they move so fast that I can't get the field marks, so perhaps WHITE-NECKED JACOBIN is the hummer I like the best is biased by being the easiest hummer for me identify.

WHITE-NECKED JACOBIN
Photo: Shari Zirlin

PURPLE HONEYCREEPER

Eventually, I plunked myself down in a shaded swing-chair and kept watch at a small set of feeders while the others went into the house for a slide presentation/talk by the owner. My days of being lectured to are long over, so I was content to sit and try to study the birds on my own. I wasn't very successful in my studies because the next day, at Asa Wright's feeders, the only hummer I was again sure of was my dear old White-necked Jacobin. Most of the others seem like blurs. Colorful blurs. But if I have my book with me, open to the right page, I have a good chance to get the i.d. correct. 

Ruby-topaz Hummingbird
Photo: Shari Zirlin

17 species
Black Vulture  10
WHITE-NECKED JACOBIN  10
RUFOUS-BREASTED HERMIT 5
GREEN HERMIT 1
Ruby-topaz Hummingbird  5
Black-throated Mango  10
LONG-BILLED STARTHROAT 1
BLUE-CHINNED SAPPHIRE  1
White-chested Emerald  10
COPPER-RUMPED HUMMINGBIRD  5
Great Kiskadee  1
Tropical Mockingbird  1
Palm Tanager  1
PURPLE HONEYCREEPER 9
Bananaquit  10
Yellow Oriole  1
Yellow-rumped Cacique  1