A small bird perched on a branch with vividly iridescent plumage that shimmers in shades of green, blue, and fiery orange, with a deep blue crown and a compact, rounded body.

My first afternoon at Paraiso Quetzal Lodge and I'm getting a nice resupply of Fiery-throated Hummingbirds. I don't know if there's a 12-step program for this particular addiction, but I might need it.

#hummingbirds #birds #costarica #nature

A better question is why the other side lost.

A male common grackle flys down from a spruce tree with a dark black background. His colours are stunning with a vivid blue head, bronze body, a blue tail and violet blue patches on his wing!

It’s back to gracklepalooza! A lot of the grackles have left on their migration, but there are still quite a few hanging around.
With his feathers fresh from the summer moult, this male Common Grackle, was foraging in the trees and decided to fly down to the creek for a drink!
#Birds 🪶

Sapphire Flycatcher (Ficedula sapphira) in India by Bibhas Deb.

Sapphire Flycatcher (Ficedula sapphira) in India by Bibhas Deb. #birds #photography #nature

Kookaburra photo bombing australia

kookaburra photobombing Australia. #birds #nature #humor

Darkish little bird with red, yellow, and slate gray wing tips. Red-billed Leiothrix (Leiothrix lutea) in India by Nelson George‎.

Red-billed Leiothrix (Leiothrix lutea) in India by Nelson George‎.
#birds #nature #photography

This is a very lovely composition. Perfect for an art piece

What a beautifully symmetrical bird. And those colors! Amazing

A cedar waxwing, with its tan body and black face mask, flying against a blue sky. Its wings and tail are completely flared out and we can see the little red waxy tips on its secondary feathers called astaxanthin. These small red waxy tips is what they are named for!

Cedar Waxwings are named after the little waxy red tips, called astaxanthin, on their secondary feathers.
This Cedar Waxwing was pulling off some fancy aerial manoeuvres while hunting bugs, and showed off these tiny red tips!
The astaxanthin are now thought to be involved with social status.

That's a bit of a stretch

Boat tailed grackle perched on leafless twigs against a flat blue sky, facing right. This is an overall very dark bird but you can see blue and purple iridescence in the feathers of the body and head. The long sharp dark beak is open and the bright yellow eye reflects the sunlight, which comes from the left.

Unlike their gulf-coast cousins, boat-tailed grackles along the Atlantic coast have fabulous eyes #birds

A Horned Grebe parent floats on the green water of a prairie marsh. She is rust coloured with grey wings, black throat and straw coloured feathers tufted out on the top of her head. And of course red eyes! There are two black and white striped babies riding on her back and facing forward. They have red patches on their faces.

All aboard the Grebe Taxi!
These very young horned grebe babies ride in style when out on the marsh. Soon they’ll be too big, but for now, Mom needs some navigational assistance!
#Birds #photography #wildlife 🪶

If you’ve never seen one before, this is a strawberry finch.

Substack has a better chance as a business

A fairytale in Tuscany. Fun fact: Taken with my smartphone

If you look closely, the song of this Tufted Titmouse can be seen above his/her beak. The chilly morning allowed for a look at the bird's breath.

"Where did he go?" - Sandhill Crane (with a Red-winged Blackbird in the background)

Blue Jays having an intense discussion

I heard some loud squawking from the rookery and saw one Great Blue Heron chasing another. With so many Great Blue Herons (30+) in close proximity, disagreements seem to pop up every once in a while. They get worked out by the birds flying around for a bit.