Hummingbirds of the Northern Andes
Please note that this meeting will be online.
Presenter: Peter Hawrylyshyn
Hummingbirds have always held a special mystique for both birders and photographers. The success of their rapid evolution and biodiversity is unmatched among avian species. No where is this more evident than the Northern Andes, which host almost half of all known hummingbird species. Names like Ruby Topaz, Empress Brilliant, Marvelous Spatuletail and Rainbow Starfrontlet conjure images of their glittering beauty.
My talk will briefly review how the formation of the Northern Andes directed their evolution and adaptation to specific biomes. I will discuss the pro’s and con’s of different techniques to photograph hummingbirds, and highlight some of the best sites to photograph hummingbirds in the Northern Andes. I have selected my favorite photographs of over 50 hummingbird species from travels in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru that encapsulate why hummingbirds have always been such fascinating and challenging photographic subjects.
Peter Hawrylyshyn is an avid bird photographer from Toronto, Canada who is also a regular visitor to the Bay area. His particular interests are hummingbirds and neotropical birding. His photographs have been widely published including BBC Nature, several reference texts, and by Cornell Lab of Ornithology (eBird and Birds of the World) as reference images for over 150 species.
