Talamanca Hummingbird

How to find it

Start in the Savegre Valley highlands, where visitors walk the lodge gardens and look for resident Talamanca Hummingbird. It is listed among the frequent hummingbirds at Savegre Reserve, where cloud forest dominated by white oaks and a trail through tall mossy oaks mean birding starts right at the lodge. In the upper Savegre Valley, a cafe with fruit feeders gave one guided group in 2024 close views. At San Gerardo de Dota, a restaurant with bird feeders out back lets you watch many species come and go while you wait for food. High on Cerro de la Muerte, the hummingbird feeders at La Georgina restaurant often give close views.

How to recognise it

Think big first. This is the largest hummingbird of the high mountains, about 13 cm long, and it carries the longest bill there. Size and bill are your first clues when several hummingbirds crowd one feeder.

Adult males show:

- a violet crown

- a bright blue-green throat patch

- a black head side and back

The blue-green throat is a useful detail, because the male Rivoli's Hummingbird of the north has a purple one instead.

What it sounds like

Recording: Dan MacNeal, CC BY 4.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

Look for it hovering at flowers or perched near feeders or nectar-rich blossoms. It is fairly aggressive around other hummingbirds, so expect some chasing at busy feeders.

In Costa Rica it breeds from November to March. The nest is a bulky cup of soft plant down, covered outside with moss and lichen, and it sits near the tip of a hanging bamboo stem about 3 m up.

Where it lives

In Costa Rica it lives from about 2000 m up to treeline. It is most common above 2500 m and sometimes strays lower, down to about 1850 m.

It is fairly common in the highest parts of the Central Volcanic range and the Talamanca range. In general the species uses montane oak forest, forest edges and gaps in the canopy, and it also uses neighbouring second growth. It is mostly resident, though some birds may move to lower elevations.

Similar birds

It looks much like Rivoli's Hummingbird, and the two were once treated as one species. The male Talamanca has a blue-green throat patch where Rivoli's has a purple one. Range is the easiest clue: Rivoli's lives from the southwestern US to northern Nicaragua, while the Talamanca lives in Costa Rica and western Panama.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

The Spanish name on the Costa Rican list is Colibrí de Talamanca, and Colibrí Magnífico is also recorded as a Spanish name used in Costa Rica. Some authorities use the English name Admirable Hummingbird. The genus name Eugenes means well-born or noble, and spectabilis means notable or admirable. The common name comes from the Cordillera de Talamanca. The Museo Nacional de Costa Rica holds its oldest hummingbird skin, from 1900, and it is a Talamanca Hummingbird.

Status and conservation

It is a resident endemic on the AOCR list (R-END) and is assessed as Least Concern, with a range limited to the Talamanca and Central highlands of Costa Rica and western Panama.

Photography tips

Feeders give the easiest close views. The hummingbird feeders at La Georgina restaurant on Cerro de la Muerte are a good stop for photographers, where it shares the perches with Fiery-throated, Volcano and Scintillant Hummingbirds. The fruit feeders at a cafe in the upper Savegre Valley also gave a guided group close views.