The Sapphire-throated Hummingbird is listed in The Birds of Costa Rica (second edition) as rare in Costa Rica, with its first confirmed sighting in 2008 in an area near the Osa Peninsula. The bird isn’t listed on Luna Lodge’s bird listing. We saw and photographed what I’m convinced is a Sapphire-throated Hummingbird on the Sunday we arrived at Luna Lodge and again on Friday, our last full day at Luna Lodge. My conclusion is based on the color of its beak (the underside is pink), feather color (glittering blue-violet from chin to upper breast and brilliant green on crown), tail shape (noticeably forked), and size (4 inches). According to information on the Internet, sightings of this bird in and around Golfito, near Luna Lodge, are increasing and since it’s information from the internet, it must be true!
There is lots of porter weed, a relative of verbena, that attracts butterflies and hummingbirds in the area where I took this photograph on the Luna Lodge grounds. The hummer is perched on a dried twig of the porter weed and a cluster of its purple flowers is visible at left. It’s too bad I didn’t have the flash setup I used in Madera Canyon, AZ to photograph hummingbirds there. The flash would have made the colors glimmer.
