Since 2004 · Licensed by the Costa Rican Tourism Board (ICT)

Violet Sabrewing in Costa Rica

Family Trochilidae

Violet Sabrewing

Campylopterus hemileucurus

In Spanish: Ala de Sable Violáceo

  • Resident

The Highlands lodge feeders, San Gerardo de Dota first. All year.

Where to see itTrips that find it

One hummingbird at the feeder chases all the others off. If it is deep violet and clearly bigger than the rest, it is the Violet Sabrewing, the largest hummingbird in Mexico and Central America.

At San Gerardo de Dota it comes to the lodge feeders while you drink your coffee, with the Fiery-throated Hummingbird and the Volcano Hummingbird, both regional endemics, found only in this small corner of the world. Our team also finds it at cloud forest and highland lodges beyond the valley, Monteverde among them. The males sing for the females in a lek, a spot where several gather to display, in the understorey or along a forest edge.

Where to see it

Map of the places to see the Violet Sabrewing and the lodges near them
  • Hotspot page
  • Named place
  • Nearby lodge (numbers match the cards)

Nearby lodges

Within 20 km of a place on the map, in the same zone.

See all lodges in this zone →

How to recognise it

About 13 to 15 cm, roughly half the length of a school ruler, which is big for a hummingbird. On the Costa Rican birds the male is almost entirely violet below and greener above than birds further north. The female has a coppery tinge on the back and a violet throat. Size apart, the mark that settles it is the tail: blackish, with wide white tips that show when it is spread. The song is high, piercing and hard to place, a run of cheeps and tsews.

Where it lives

The edges and interior of humid evergreen montane forest and mature secondary forest, and also banana plantations and gardens. In Costa Rica it is found between about 1,500 and 2,400 m, along most of the length of the country.

When to see it

All year. It nests from May to November in Costa Rica, and a pair may raise two broods.

Trips that find it

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How we know this 1 sources, each read on the date shown
  1. Wikipedia: Violet sabrewing read 4 November 2026https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violet_sabrewing