Sword-billed Hummingbird

This unbelievable bird is the only example with a beak longer than its body. The evolved structure allows the Sword-billed to feed on long, tubular flowers excluding short-billed hummingbirds, and the bird is an important pollinator of high Andean plants between Venezuela and Bolivia. I photographed this male at a feeder array near Manizales in Colombia's Central Andes, the close-cropped headshot offering a detailed and exaggerated view of his namesake feature. I used a bit of fill flash to reveal feather detail, and the completely clear background was achieved by shooting down the steep mountainside and onto a forested slope on the other side of the valley.

Hacienda El Bosque, Manizales, Caldas, Colombia, 7/3/19
Canon 600mm f/4 on EOS 5D Mark IV
1/200 at f/7.1, ISO 1600, fill flash