Canopy Tower Photographers

Resources and Galleries for Canopy Tower photographers

Questions Frequently Asked by Photographers

How many hummingbird feeders are there, and what hummingbirds visit the feeders regularily? Also what hummingbirds migrate altitudinally or disappear for certain periods during the year, either during the dry season or during the wet season.

At the Canopy Tower we have four or five hummingbird feeders The hummers that come regularly to the Canopy Tower’s feeders are: White-necked Jacobin, White-vented Plumeleteer, Blue-chested, Violet-bellied, Snowy-bellied and Long-tailed hermit.

At the Canopy Lodge we have four feeders around the lodge, two in a different part of the garden and four feeders in the forest about 15 minutes walk from the Lodge. We also have plenty of flowers and trees that attract hummers, particularly in the Canopy lodge (Heliconias, Erithrinas and Verbenas). Regular visitors (with varying degrees of regularity) to the feeders and the garden are: Violet-headed, Violet-capped, Garden Emerald, Rufuos-tailed, Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer, Purple-crowned Fairy, Long-billed Starthroat, Green Thorntail, Rufous-crested Coquette, Green Hermit, Little Hermit, Rufous-breasted Hermit and Green-crowned Brilliant. The Snowcap and the Brown violet-ear are seen in a mountain trail about 45 minutes from the lodge.

There is some altitudinal migration in the Canopy Lodge. For example, the White-tailed Emerald is being seen now while it disappears in about 3 months. The Coquette and the Thorntail are best seen October - January.

What other feeders do you have around (fruit feeders?), and what species regularily visit them if you have any. Also, what are the surroundings like where these feeders are located.

We have 7 fruit feeders and one grain feeder in the Canopy Lodge, none in the Canopy Tower because they attract coatis (a relative of the raccoon) which can become a pest. To the fruit feeders come several species of tanagers, Blue-gray, Crimson-backed, Lemon-rumped, White-shouldered, Golden-hooded, Dusky-faced and other birds as follows: Thick-billed Euphonia, Rufous Motmot, Clay-colored Trush, Blue-crowned Motmot, Chestnut-headed Oropendula, Stripped and Buff-throated Saltator, Black-stripped Sparrow, Tennessee Warbler, Red-legged Honeycreeper and even a Gray-necked Wood rail. The fruit feeders in EL Valle are very well attended indeed! We stocked them with bananas 4-5 times a day.

The grain feeder attracts White-tailed Dove and Ruddy Ground Doves.

We have set up the feeders under trees so there are many natural perches around them. We also attach small branches to the feeders to create more perches. This question of perches and proper background was the first thing we learned about catering to bird photographers. Birders, as you know, only want to see the bird. But photographers want to photograph the bird in a natural setting with the proper background. You might like to play some of the slide shows of pictures taken by amateur and professional photographers around the Canopy Lodge.

How is photography on the tower itself and what species can generally be expected to be seen during a morning in the tower?

From the top deck of the Tower you could photograph some very special species like the Blue Cotinga and the Green-shrike Vireo and other canopy specialties like toucans (three species, Keel-billed, Chestnut-mandibled and Collared Aracari). For more specific information about birds seen in the Tower I refer you to the trip reports from past visitors.

Anything else I need to know before I come?

I think you will take many, many wonderful pictures of birds around our lodges, mainly in the Canopy Lodge. To give the birds, the cloud forest, and the weather a chance, I suggest seven nights in the Lodge and three in the Canopy Tower.