Violet-headed Hummingbird

How to find it

Look for it at small purple flowers in gardens, at forest edges and at feeders. Stachytarpheta hedges are a good place to check. Listen for a lek chorus, then scan slender dead twigs at the edge of clearings. It is most often reported in lowland and foothill areas. Because it is patchy, move on to another spot if one stretch of good-looking habitat is quiet.

How to recognise it

This is a tiny hummingbird with a short, straight bill.

The male has a violet-blue head and throat, a white spot behind each eye, a bronzy green back and a gray belly.

The female is duller. She has a blue cap and a gray throat, breast and belly, and she also carries the white spot behind the eye.

It often flies with its tail slightly cocked. In Costa Rica the bold white eye spot and the short straight bill are the marks to learn first, and they work for both sexes.

Behaviour and diet

It drinks nectar from flowering shrubs of the forest understory and catches small insects in flight. In Costa Rica it is especially fond of Stachytarpheta flowers, and one hedge near Murcia held about one bird every 5 to 7 m. Despite its small size it can be territorial and will defend nectar sources from other hummingbirds.

Where it lives

In Costa Rica it is recorded from 200 to 850 m. Another source gives a wider range, from 50 to 1200 m, so think of it as a bird of the foothills and lowlands. It lives on the edges of humid forest, in openings in secondary forest, and in altered habitats such as Stachytarpheta hedges. It is found in the Pacific lowlands and foothills from south-central Costa Rica eastward to Panama. A birder near Turrialba says it is more common on the Caribbean side of the country.

When to see it

Males sing from October, building to a peak in December. The chorus fades in the dry season (February and March), resumes with the April rains, and stops again in May until October.

Similar birds

The white spot behind the eye is the first clue, and it rules out hummingbirds that lack it. Many of the others are too large or live only in the highlands, such as Fiery-throated Hummingbird. Magenta-throated Woodstar and Scintillant Hummingbird also have the spot, but both show a lot of rufous on the underparts or tail, which this species lacks. Female and immature Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, a migrant, are about the same size but have a white throat and a relatively longer bill.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

Costa Rica and Nicaragua use the name Colibrí Cabeciazul. Panama, Ecuador and Colombia say Colibrí Cabecivioleta.

Status and conservation

It is a resident (R) on the AOCR list, and worldwide it is Least Concern because of its large range and its ability to live in human-modified habitat.

Photography tips

Watch small purple flowers, Stachytarpheta hedges and feeders, where it hovers in front of blossoms. A lek chorus points you to the singing males on slender dead twigs at clearing edges.