Wire-crested thorntail, Putumayo, Colombia
Opening a somewhat strange day in our travel program where we would go halfway up the Trampoline of Death (a steep road connecting Mocoa and la Cocha), then go back down to Mocoa, only to fully traverse the Trampoline of Death the day after. So effectively we'd do the first half twice. Ah well...
The appeal of this road, other than needing to take it to go to some places, is that it takes you rapidly through big elevation changes. This brings opportunities for some road-side birding as well as finding the occasional butterflies.
As the Wikipedia description says, this is one of the smallest birds on the planet, weighing only 2.5 grams. This is the male of the species, because it has a crest. This one was seen here before, so we waited it out. Even at 10m or so of distance, I failed to capture a lot of detail, simply because it is so tiny.
The wire-crested thorntail is a hummingbird which occurs in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. These birds feed on nectar from flowers using a long extendable tongue, or catch insects on the wing. They require frequent feeding while active during the day and become torpid at night to conserve energy.
