The morning air in the forest clearing feels alive with motion. Over a patch of Heliconia blooms, a small shape darts, hovers, and pivots in midair as if the world has no gravity. It’s the Long-tailed Hermit (Phaethornis superciliosus), one of the Amazon’s most acrobatic nectar-feeders. Its long central tail feathers flick like twin pendulums… Continue reading Acrobatic dancer: a Long-tailed Hermit
Tag: Eastern Long-tailed Hermit
Reddish Hermit at red flowers at Gumna
A thunderstorm is brewing. In the afternoon, the sky has been clouded over. We are sitting near Gumna Reserve, on the outskirts of Belém, Brazil. But the air still feels heavy with humidity and scent—earth, leaf litter, and the faint sweetness of blooming flowers. Amid the dense understory, flashes of reddish bronze move in quick… Continue reading Reddish Hermit at red flowers at Gumna
Long-tailed Hermit with a Bee at a hummingbird feeder at Gumna
In the afternoon, the sky clouded over. A thunderstorm was brewing. Despite this, the air in the Gumna Reserve on the outskirts of Belém, Brazil, was still teeming with life – chirping, buzzing, and the rustling of wings in the humid air. I sat on a plastic chair in front of a flowering bush, where… Continue reading Long-tailed Hermit with a Bee at a hummingbird feeder at Gumna