GREEN THORNTAIL Female Popelairia conversii Piercing a Red Flower in Mindo in Northwestern ECUADOR. Hummingbird Photo by Peter Wendelken.

GREEN THORNTAIL female Popelairia conversii (a hummingbird). A female Green Thorntail is feeding at a red Sleeping Hibiscus Malvariscus arboreus flower in Mindo in northwestern Ecuador at 12:51 PM on January 16, 2015. The hummingbird's bill is penetrating the base of the flower to drink nectar.

Malvariscus arboreus is a large shrub which blooms year round in Mindo and is widely used for hedges; it produces abundant flowers and the Green Thorntail feeds extensively at these flowers. In the Sleeping Hibiscus flower, the petals do not furl out but remain swirled around the pistil forming a sort of tube. The bill of the Green Thorntail is not long enough to reach all the way from the distal opening of the petals to the base and it pierces the petals near their base to reach the nectar. It does so by using the force of its hovering flight to press the bill tip against the petals, often penetrating two petals.

Green Thorntails belong to the family Trochilidae and are resident from Costa Rica south through Panamá to western Colombia and western Ecuador.

Una hembra del colibrí Colicerda Verde Popelairia conversii está penetrando la base de los petalos de una flor roja Malvariscus arboreus para alcanzar en néctar en Mindo en el noroccidente de Ecuador a las 12 y 51 de la tarde el 16 de enero de 2015.

No flash - I never use flash!

For OPTIMAL DETAILED VIEWING of this Flower Piercing GREEN THORNTAIL Female, VIEW AT THE COLOSSAL SIZE (2431 x 1600) using the direct Flickr link: www.flickr.com/photos/neotropical_birds_mayan_ruins/51615...

TO SEE MORE THAN 65 SPECIES OF HUMMINGBIRDS PLEASE VISIT MY HUMMINGBIRD ALBUM (SET) AT www.flickr.com/photos/neotropical_birds_mayan_ruins/sets/....

Taken in: Ecuador / Provincia de Pichincha / Mindo / Mindo (show map)

Taken on: January 16, 2015

Tags:

Green Thorntail

Green Thorntail Drinking Nectar

Green Thorntail in Mindo

Green Thorntail Hovering

Thorntail

Hummingbird

Colibri

Picaflor

Chupaflor

Colicerda Verde

Colicerda

Popelairia conversii

Popelairia

Trochilidae

Ecuador Hummingbirds

South American Hummingbirds

Ecuador Birds

South American Birds

Neotropical Birds

Mindo Birds

Mindo Hummingbirds

Aves

Sleeping Hibiscus

Malvariscus arboreus

Pichincha Province

Mindo

Ecuador

Hummingbird Photo by Peter Wendelken

Peter Wendelken

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Sets appears in: • Hummingbirds • Over 65 Species

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