Perched female Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, UtahPerched female Broad-tailed Hummingbird – Nikon D810, f6.3, 1/3200, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited or set up

Photographing hummingbirds in the wild* can be daunting and fast paced, so fast paced that there are times I don’t often have time to properly ID them in the field.

Yesterday while photographing hummingbirds I noticed the plumage on the back of one bird looked different but it wasn’t until I was able to view my images on my computer screen that I realized that bird was a female Broad-tailed Hummingbird which is a photographic lifer for me. I don’t normally count a bird as a “lifer” unless I have photographed it. So I was tickled to find out I had another lifer even though I didn’t ID the bird in the field.

Life is good.

Mia

*I don’t photograph hummingbirds at set ups which are elaborate outdoor “studios” that some times have fake backgrounds, feeders with flowers as props in front of or covering the feeders and a multitude of flash units set up. That isn’t my style of photography at all, I want to photograph my subjects in the wild doing what they want to do when they want to do it where they want to do it.

Click here to see more of my Broad-tailed Hummingbird photos plus facts and information about this species.