A Rare Encounter with the Buffy Helmetcrest Hummingbird

Once you consider hummingbirds, we normally consider small birds present in the hotter components of the world. And it’s true that the areas round the equator are residence to the overwhelming majority of the greater than 360 species of hummingbird. However amongst these dwarfs of the fowl kingdom, you’ll additionally discover a number of hardy hummingbirds. Some stay in cool areas as far-off from the equator as Alaska or the southernmost tip of South America.

However you don’t should journey removed from the equator to discover a cool local weather. You’ll additionally discover a major drop in temperature as you progress up in altitude. The continent of South America is crossed from north to south by the huge Andean mountain vary. It’s no marvel that a number of species of hummingbirds have discovered refuge right here, even on the highest slopes of the mountains.

At comparable altitudes in the Rockies or the Alps, you’ll discover little however ice and rock. In the tropical Andes, nonetheless, the proximity to the equator helps a lush flowers. Similar to in hotter climates, flowering crops assist hummingbirds with their nectar in change for pollination companies.

Life in the mountains is harsh and requires many diversifications from its inhabitants. However for some hummingbird species, circumstances are perfect right here, at altitudes of about 4,000 meters / 13,000 toes above sea stage. The fowl that’s the topic of this text – the Buffy Helmetcrest – lives all the means as much as the snow line at altitudes above 5000 meters / 16,400 toes.

A fast geography lesson for you. In tropical South America, the forest normally ends at 3500 to 4000 meters above sea stage. After that, there’s a 1000-meter band between the forest edge and the snow line, referred to as the páramo. One other identify for it’s the high-mountain steppe. The páramo normally has grass, shrubs, and decrease timber – or, as in Colombia, crops known as Espeletia (“frailejón” in Spanish). These slow-growing crops give the panorama its distinctive character.

Hummingbirds usually are not straightforward to {photograph} even at the better of instances, however in an setting like this, the activity turns into much more troublesome. Any exercise may be very bodily demanding at these altitudes. Typically even a sluggish stroll uphill is sufficient to really feel your coronary heart in your throat, and easily dealing with your camera turns into an ordeal.

After I spend nights in a tent at these altitudes, rolling back and forth in my sleeping bag makes my coronary heart race. To maintain power prices down, Buffy Helmetcrest usually clings to flowers whereas feeding. This reduces the strenuous hovering round the flowers that the majority hummingbirds do. It additionally means you might be much less prone to get pictures of the Buffy Helmetcrest hovering in place – though it may be executed when you’re affected person.

A hummingbird’s lifetime of frenetic exercise requires an infinite provide of high-calorie power in the type of plant nectar and small bugs. However to be able to get that meals, additionally they should expend huge quantities of power. An brisk, vicious circle. And so, though hummingbirds eat greater than their very own physique weight in a day, they’re continually on the verge of hunger.

It’s a physiological problem for small warm-blooded hummingbirds to even make it by way of the night time. To preserve power, a lot of them fall right into a state of torpor whereas they sleep. Their respiratory and coronary heart charges drop, which helps them survive till morning. Then, throughout the day,  they have to forage to maintain their quick metabolism going and put together their our bodies for an additional lengthy night time.

Photographing the endangered Buffy Helmetcrest presents a number of challenges. This hummingbird will not be considerable wherever, and it inhabits a really small space in Colombia’s Los Nevados Nationwide Park, so you must know precisely the place to search for it. A few hundred meters away and also you’re out of luck. The truth is, that’s true for many tropical birds.

Photographing in the páramo will not be straightforward both. Water, so important to this ecosystem, is normally in the type of dense fog – not nice for images of small, distant topics. The truth is, all the pictures on this article had been taken in fog. I spent a great a part of the day in the discipline ready (in useless) for the wind to blow the fog away. As a substitute, I had to make use of some highly effective post-processing instruments to get better the distinction of those scenes.

You’re at over 4000m, you’re chilly, the wind is blowing thick fog over the páramo, and also you’re attempting to catch a glimpse of this tiny mountain specialist between the silhouettes of the Frailejónes. You’ve traveled midway round the world to attempt for these pictures.

After an extended wait, it abruptly seems proper in entrance of you. Sure, the fog is so thick that it’s onerous to search out your topic – however your topic is there. This cocktail of anticipation, frustration, and small victories is what I really like about wildlife images. What about you?