When one thinks about a Black-throated Mango (Anthracothorax Nigricollis) female, the image of this hummer’s underparts of white with a central black stripe comes to the forefront. However over the years of watching these beauties gracing my hummingbird feeders, I realized that trait has many variations when this species is observed. It was my opinion that five (5) of these pretty ladies were regularly coming to my feeders, as that was the most I saw simultaneously, either at the feeders or waiting patiently on nearby cable wires. However based on focused observation over the last couple of months, supported by photos, I have now concluded that at least twelve (12) venture to my feeders, not daily, but from time to time. The variations in the black stripe are striking and can include that stripe being (a) thicker or thinner (b) broken (c) jagged and (d) with slight marks to either side of the stripe. In essence each bird having its own “fingerprint”. I suppose none of the foregoing may be totally surprising as the reality is that each bird species, whilst having their specific traits, individual birds would have specific characteristics that can be discerned by careful observation, be it streaking, wing bars, scaling, colour tones, etc. The photos attached were based on observations from 5th December 2024 – 3rd January 2025.
