On our trip to Cochabamba we pass a road bridge that my companion, Francoise, knows well from recent years. At that time, a Wedge-tailed Hillstar (Oreotrochilus adela) had bred there. We found what we were looking for right at the first bridge near Copachunchu – just 92 km from Cochabamba. A pair of delicate wings flapped at lightning speed, creating a buzzing sound in the air. A little later, an Wedge-tailed Hillstar sits on a branch right next to the bridge. The female Wedge-tailed Hillstar has chosen an unusual, uncharacteristic place to build her nest. The Wedge-tailed Hillstar female keeps trying to get to her nest, but I have the nerve to stand in the way with my Nikon Nikkor AF-I 2.8/300 on the Nikon F 5 with 1.4 converter and the Metz MZ -5 to sit a
The bridge was not an architectural marvel; rather, it was a steel tube embedded in the ground. The corrugated iron culvert created a stabilized full circle for bridge construction. But between the waves, the Wedge-tailed Hillstar had found the perfect refuge to create a safe haven for the future hummingbird family. She meticulously had woven together twigs, leaves and spider silk to create a tiny nest that was almost invisible to traffic and the busy world of the neighboring town above.
The underside of the female from the throat and neck to the chest is mottled with grayish and green spots on a whitish background. The belly, the underside, is pale rusty-reddish. The beak has a yellow tinge at the base. It probably comes from drinking nectar. The tail has white feather tips. The male is clearly different from the female with his bright green, glittering throat and chestnut brown underside with a strong black central line. But there was no male visible in the nest area.
We don’t want to overtax the hummingbird’s patience and pack up. We then drive on to near Cochabamba.
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