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The green-crowned brilliant (Heliodoxa jacula) is a large hummingbird native to the highlands from Costa Rica to western Ecuador where it lives at altitudes of between 700 and 2,000 m (2,300 and 6,600 ft). It feeds at the large inflorescences of Marcgravia vines, which the male will sometimes defend, and will also feed at Heliconia and other large flowers. Unlike many hummingbirds, the green-crowned brilliant almost always perches to feed. This female, subspecies H. j. henryi, was photographed in the Mount Totumas cloud forest, Panama.Photograph credit: Charles James Sharp
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