What made Costa Rica special to Kathy and me on our recent trip were its hummingbirds. Nearly everywhere we went—hotels, lodges, roadside cafes—we found hummingbirds swarming around flowering plants and hummingbird feeders.

We could have spent our whole trip sitting on porches or in restaurants looking at hummers as they continually flashed a spectrum of sparkling green, white, blue, and red hues.

Rufous-tailed hummingbirds were the first of the flying gems to capture our attention at the Hotel Bougainvillea near the capitol city of San Jose. The birds fed on nectar from the abundant flowering plants in the hotel gardens and at feeders outside the restaurant window.

They flashed shimmering green backs and throats while sipping nectar through coral-orange beaks. They flared their tails, showing both subdued and brilliant coppery colors. Such contrasting color gradients as shown by the rufous-tailed hummers were typical of all the hummingbirds we saw.

Upon arriving at Rancho Naturalista, a lodge on the Caribbean Slope, we could hardly take time to exchange greetings with our hosts before heading for the second-story porch with its hummingbird feeders. We hurriedly began sorting out the species of hummers.

Fortunately, the male hummingbird species were easy to separate because of their distinctive patterns. Even casual bird-watchers could have distinguished the different species. But Costa Rican hummers don't always have "hummingbird" in their names.

Such was the case with the white-necked Jacobin buzzing around the porch. This handsome hummer sported a silky-white collar across the back of its neck to accent its deep-blue head, throat, and breast. The whole of its back and tail was grass-green, with the tail edged in the same silky-white as the neck collar.

Then there was the green-breasted mango. Somewhat bigger than the ruby-throated hummingbird familiar in Houston, this striking hummer had a pallet of green tones with a deep-purple throat and a magenta tail.

The green thorntail was a rather shy hummer with a glistening green back, a white band over its rump, and feathers in a blue-black tail that streamed out like frayed wires. The hummer's shyness was probably due to the aggressive behavior of the robust-sized magnificent hummingbird, which also occurs in the Arizona Mountains.

But the star of the hummingbird show was the snowcap, located up a mountain trail at a hummingbird feeding station sequestered in the forest. The flying forest pixie was half the size of a ruby-throated hummingbird and had the subtle color of Cabernet wine set off by a powdery snow-white cap.

Days later at lodges on the Pacific Slope we saw beauties like the gray-tailed mountain gem. The female of this hummer, unlike most other hummers, rivaled the male for elegance with a gleaming tan underside and green back. The male had a white throat set against a shiny green body.

At a truck stop on the highest point of the Pan American Highway, we saw the high-altitude loving fiery-throated hummingbird. When sunlight struck the bird, its throat lit up like embers in a tiny furnace.

Costa Rica has about 52 hummingbird species, the continental U. S. about 17.

Brilliant hummingbird colors result from refraction of light by melanin granules and air bubbles in the feathers.

For descriptions of all Costa Rican birds, pick up A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica, by Stiles and Skutch, (Cornell University Press, $39.95.)

Join naturalist Gary Clark and photographer Kathy Adams Clark on a photo tour to Costa Rica March 5-12, 2005. Details are available at www.kathyadamsclark.com.

Gary Clark writes the "Wonders of Nature" column in the Houston Chronicle and is a dean at North Harris College. Kathy Adams Clark is a nature photographer and workshop teacher. She owns KAC Productions, a stock agency representing 15 photographers. Visit her web site at www.kathyadamsclark.com

Editor's Comment: Let us know what you think! Please email the Editor to let us know your thoughts.