Rufous iridescence

 

I photographed my first Rufous Hummingbird of 2013 this morning. It was a male—the sex which has the strikingly iridescent gorget. I attach three pictures of this visitor.

The gorget of a hummingbird owes its colour to iridescence. As such, the colour depends greatly on the direction of the light source and the viewing angle. Here, the gorget looks dark brown.

Six seconds later, this bird turned his head. There is a striking transformation in the appearance of its gorget.

About 15 seconds later, the bird stared into the camera allowing a portrait.

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4 Responses to Rufous iridescence

  1. Lorna says:

    beautiful…..love them.

  2. Carl says:

    Great Shots

  3. pamella says:

    Its eye, the perfection of round. Its foil- flashing beard of pleated skirts. I’m cornered by beauty,
    pushed through a keyhole and knocked off this page. To another medium

  4. matt says:

    incredible colours. That colour change is something I have never noticed. Thank you.

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