Ramosomyia violiceps

By Matt Young

Photograph by Pierce Dayton.

Anna's hummingbird dining on aloe flowers
Ramosomyia violiceps – Anna's hummingbird, dining on aloe flowers. Pierce Dayton is the grandson of Vivian Dullien, whose photographs we posted here and here. He took the picture with his cell phone. More below the fold.

According to this source, a hummingbird might flap its wings with a frequency of 50-90 Hz, though less when it is hovering. Mr. Dayton, who apparently knows his stuff, set his camera for F/2.8 and ISO 50, and achieved a shutter speed of approximately 1/3300 s, or 3300 Hz, which ought to be fast enough to stop the motion of the wings (according to the metadata associated with the photograph I received). Below, I will post another of his pictures, which shows the coloration of the bird somewhat better. I will confess that I cropped both pictures and adjusted the exposure ever so slightly.

Anna's hummingbird dining on aloe flowers, Take 2