006 - Violet-fronted Brilliant, a Hummingbird.

Post date: May 25, 2014 5:05:49 PM

Violet fronted brilliant

An extra short Biodiversity Short.

This is a new video format that will feature only one shot of one species. This makes the format extra short.

The Violet-fronted Brilliant (Heliodoxa leadbeateri).

A species of hummingbird that is a common sight in our cloud-forest garden here in Ecuador.

They are highly territorial and this particular male regularly chases other species of hummingbirds away from his group of flowers.

Audio for this clip was recorded with a Batbox Baton. This device detects frequencies of 20kHz to 120kHz and divides them by ten in real time so that we can hear ultrasonic sounds produced by bats and many insects. I noticed that rubbing together clothing makes a lot of ultrasonic noise and thought that a hummingbirds feathers would make a similar noise. I was right :). Previously I have tried to record the sound hummingbirds wing beats but compared to background noise they are relatively silent. Not so at much higher frequencies.

Other equipment used is a Minolta MD 200mm 1:2.8 lens with an EOS-M body running Magic Lantern firmware for high bit rates and focus assist.

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