The tiny Snowcap, a Hummingbird native to Costa Rica, is not always easy to spot. When I was in Costa Rica this past March, we visited a place near our lodge where the elusive Snowcap was known to be. We were lucky and did find a number of females and a couple of immature males. This is a female Snowcap. She appears to be sticking her tongue out. Hummingbird tongues are amazing. The tongue works like a pump by compressing and then rapidly expanding to draw up the nectar. A hummingbird’s tongue can be twice as long as its beak. When the tongue is retracted into the beak, it coils up and wraps around the skull.
Wonderful catch with the tongue. Interesting name for the bird “snowcap” when the white is on the underside.