Stunning Purple Throated Hummingbird...

Purple Throated Hummingbird Flying

Purple Throated Carib:

The Purple Throat Carib ( Eulampis jugularis ) is a beautiful species of hummingbirds with most adults reaching 11.5 cm ( 4.5 inches) in length. Males and females are physically dimorphic, meaning that they look different from each other. Male slightly larger than the female and the female has a 30% longer and more sharp curved down beak than male’s.

Purple Throated Hummingbird Feeding

It has been reported that the male feeds on the Heliconia Caribaea flower while the female feeds on the Heliconia Bihai and that the male guards the caribaea from other pollinators including the female because of the rich and plentiful nectar it contains. The female then resorts to the lesser nectar bearing Bihai.

Purple Throat Hummingbird Feeding

Defending their territory, when these birds are measured in danger, they put their body horizontal with their wings perpendicular and held a little down. The hummingbird then points its own bill towards the offender and shakes its body sometimes it moves the head from side to side as well.

Purple Throat Hummingbird Sitting

Range & Habitat:

A bird entirely of the Lesser Antilles—a fairly common resident in Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenada while it is uncommon on St. Christopher, Nevis, Antigua, and Montserrat and a vagrant on some surrounding islands, such as US Virgin Islands, Barbados and The Grenadines. At least on Dominica it is found from near sea level to very high into the mountains. It likes forested areas and banana plantations but also frequents some semi-open areas as long as suitable food sources exist. It is generally expected to prefer mountain forests rather than sea level.