UntamedExpeditions
Deep Blue
š Deep-blue Flowerpiercer - Diglossa glauca
Ā©ļø Naun Amable Silva
š Moyobamba, Peru
š December 2020
š· Canon 1D Mark II - Canon 600mm
f/ 5.6 - 1/250 - iso 6400
blue coloured birds that really catch our eye. But did you know these birds aren't truly blue in colour? They don't produce a blue pigmentation to create that colour as the other colours are created, instead it is to do with the formation of the feathers and that results in them reflecting only the sun's blue wavelength of light so that is the only colour we see when we look at them.
Still, we don't think this fact makes them any less stunning and this guy with his large golden eye really is a winner.
Do you know why they are called flowerpiercers?
Well the name pretty much explains it but they used their hooked bill which is too short and thick to reach down the tube of many flowers to reach their nectar. Instead they pierce a hole in the base of the flower which allows them to "steal" the nectar. "Steal" because this method bypasses the pollen which the flower wants the birds to transport and for which it produces nectar as a lure to attract the hummingbirds.
Deep Blue
š Deep-blue Flowerpiercer - Diglossa glauca
Ā©ļø Naun Amable Silva
š Moyobamba, Peru
š December 2020
š· Canon 1D Mark II - Canon 600mm
f/ 5.6 - 1/250 - iso 6400
blue coloured birds that really catch our eye. But did you know these birds aren't truly blue in colour? They don't produce a blue pigmentation to create that colour as the other colours are created, instead it is to do with the formation of the feathers and that results in them reflecting only the sun's blue wavelength of light so that is the only colour we see when we look at them.
Still, we don't think this fact makes them any less stunning and this guy with his large golden eye really is a winner.
Do you know why they are called flowerpiercers?
Well the name pretty much explains it but they used their hooked bill which is too short and thick to reach down the tube of many flowers to reach their nectar. Instead they pierce a hole in the base of the flower which allows them to "steal" the nectar. "Steal" because this method bypasses the pollen which the flower wants the birds to transport and for which it produces nectar as a lure to attract the hummingbirds.