This female Purple-throated Woodstar (Philodice mitchellii) was gathering nectar from the flowers in the garden of the Hotel Kumanday on the edge of the village of La Florida, a popular place for those visiting the Otún Quimbaya reserve on the western side of the Cordillera Central of Colombia. The village is at 1,670 metres (5,480 ft).
The bird occurs from 700-2,200 metres along the chain of the Andrews from Colombia into Ecuador. There is what appears to be an isolated population in southern Panama.
Barely 3 inches long with their flight resembling a bee, this one spent a great deal of time keeping its energy supply up - for all that flying and hovering. Their demand for sugar and they way their body bodies handle that sugar to keep up with demand can really be appreciated by seeing and watching hummingbirds in the wild.
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