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Rusty flowerpiercer        Images © Mark A. Chappell

Rusty flowerpiercers are common small birds around flowers in a wide range across Latin America.   All flowerpiercers are nectar-feeders like hummingbirds but 'cheat' the flowers they visit by piercing the base of the blossom and stealing nectar without transferring pollen (you can see them doing that in a couple of these images).   These were photographed in the Western Andes above Cali, Colombia.

  • Canon 7D2; 800 mm IS lens plus 1.4X extender, fill-in flash (2015, 2016)