This afternoon for the first time I saw in the garden a female 'Blue-throated Goldentail! First time ever, in fact. Couldn't get a shot of the 'golden tail' part, though.
Next time....

Nice captures! Beautiful bird.

Bud
Southwest Ohio
USDA Plant Zone 6a

Camera: Pentax K20D
Lens: Pentax DA*300 f/4, Sigma 180 f/3.5 Macro
There's 1 or 2 more hummingbird / butterfly pics located here...
http://www.pbase.com/budohio

What a beautiful bird!
Maybe I missed it but I didn't see where you live.

DJoanH - Joan
Central Washington State

Joan, I am one of the Central American 'hummer lovers' that post photos and other 'stuff' this site. I live in the interior of Guanacaste, Costa Rica.
The Ruby-throated hummers migrate here for approx. 6 months, Oct-March. This is species # 10 that visit our the blooms in our garden. I don't use feeders

What a find, Patricia! I don't know how you can resist feeding them.

They would probably eat me out of 'house and home'.....
As it is, they 'zip' through the porch all the time.

Patricia, Joan,

I don't know for certain that this applies as much in Central America as it does up here, but one of the myths we fight up here all the time is that feeders become a hummingbird's sole source of food if offered.

In fact, one of the major challenges Nancy faces in banding birds in certain yards, including her own, is that in a well-planted hummingbird garden, the birds will sometimes ignore the feeders and just feast on natural nectar sources. Over the years she's had to resort to putting vases of freshly-cut flower spikes from good hummingbird plants into the traps to catch certain birds.

There is one yard here in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where the homeowner routinely has several wintering hummingbirds, but we seldom can catch even half of them. The reason has to do with the nearly half an acre of "Ugly" shrimp plant, abutilon, and other good plants surrounding her house on all sides. Why would a bird need to use a feeder in a yard like that?

They do, of course, but sparingly - so it's not necessarily the spending hole you might think, if you'd like to get closer looks at some of the birds. Given what I've seen of your gardens, if you had to stop using the feeders, it probably wouldn't hurt the birds in the slightest.

Kevin Morgan
Baton Rouge, LA

I understand what you are saying Kevin, but here in the heat, the feeders would need to be emptied/cleaned every day.
And they already come close...
When we have our coffee every morning outside, they are 'there' and we can view them easily from our own 'perches'.
Plus, I don't like to take photos of them at the feeders....

Well, maybe you didn't get a closeup of that golden tail, but it sure does show up in the first two pictures. Nice job, and how exciting to have a new species in your yard! Have you seen this one before, somewhere else, or is this a total first in every way?

In any case,

Kristin, it is a first, in every way! I had to get out my bird ID book.
Didn't see it yesterday, but it was pretty windy all day.. In my book written by Michael & Patricia Fogden, it actually says that this hummer favors the Stachytarpheta plants.
A pair of Stripe headed sparrows have nested in one these shrubs, right beside the house, and that particular get lots of usage by the various hummers, all day.

Patricia: I enjoy your photos from Costa Rica very much. How can you resist lounging on the porch all day watching the hummers?

I have been trying over the last couple years to plant more native plants that are hummer attractors, plus doing better research on hummer plants so I really do have their favorites in my yard. This year my plant offerings was the largest it has ever been, and because of that the hummers used the feeders about 50% less than previous years. I hang two feeders if they need them, but my long term intention is for my hummers to get everything they really need from the plants.

Susan
zone 6a South St. Louis County, MO

Susan, I can resist the 'lounging' part as it still hurts my 'butt' but I can see them very easy through the window and of course we spend nearly all day outside.

Congratulations Patricia !
From what I understand this is quite an uncommon bird,. Great shot too !!
\stephen

Zone 6b New Jersey

visit my hummer photos athttp://www.flickr.com/photos/38829896@N00/

Stephan, thanks. Yes, and it was here yesterday, and I am just going to post some more photos.