Wine-Throated Hummingbird

Fuentes Georginas hot springs and the Zunil access road above it, Zunil municipality, Quetzaltenango Dept. Cloud forest at ~2,400 m on the Pacific slope of Volcán Zunil. The productive ground is the road edge and the drop-off below it — a Feb 2023 trip report notes that standing at the edge of the drop puts most of the vegetation AT EYE LEVEL AND BELOW, which is exactly the terrain that makes eye-level hummingbird work possible without a hide., Guatemala

Peak

Mid-January is the single best bet (Naturalist Journeys: 'only easily found when males are lekking in January'). Early Feb still confirmed productive (Limosa, 6–18 Feb 2024, two displaying males). Mid-Dec confirmed present and photographable (BirdForum, Dec 2025). Treat 5 Jan – 15 Feb as the target band.

Days needed

5 days

Behaviour

Courtship / display, Territorial fighting

Coat

Not applicable

Habitat

Green season / lush

Crowds

Moderate

Also here

Fuentes Georginas is unusually rich: Horned Guan has been seen from the car park (Limosa 2024), plus Pink-headed Warbler, Blue-throated Motmot, Mountain Trogon, Green-throated and Amethyst-throated Mountain-gems, Garnet-throated Hummingbird, Unicolored and Bushy-crested Jays, Highland Guan, Rufous-browed Wren, Golden-browed and Crescent-chested Warblers, Maroon-chested Ground Dove (heard commonly Dec 2025), Blue-and-white Mockingbird, Chestnut-capped Brushfinch. Wintering Nearctic warblers Dec–Mar. No day here is wasted if the target doesn't show.

Light

14.8°N. Mid-Jan max solar altitude ~54° — the year's lowest here, ~36° below the June maximum. Sunrise ~06:38, sunset ~17:52, day length 11.2 h. Golden hour ~25 min per end; sun below 20° for ~1h20 per end. CLEAR-SKY shootable light is therefore only ~2.5–3 h/day, split into two blocks — the classic low-latitude problem. THE SOFTNESS HERE COMES FROM CLOUD, NOT FROM LOW SUN. This is a cloud-forest site that reliably fogs in: local guidance is that the site and its access road are 'often shrouded in clouds and mist by noon'. On a clouded day the usable window runs most of the day. On a clear January day it does not. January is Xela's driest month (~34 mm) and among its sunniest, so plan for a mix and expect to lose clear days entirely. CRITICAL ACCESS INTERACTION: the gate opens at 09:00, by which time the clear-sky dawn window (finished ~08:00) is already gone. But the site's own cloud arrives late morning — so the hours you are ALLOWED in are the hours the site actually delivers soft light. Access rules and light coincide here rather than conflicting, which is rare. Sources disagree on January rain days (5 vs 12.8 depending on dataset) — treat as unresolved.

Weather risk

Fog / mist (asset)

Atmosphere

Orographic cloud filling the ravine below the road from roughly late morning onward — the single most valuable condition here, and the thing that separates a portfolio frame from a record shot. Steam from the thermal springs drifting through cool morning air. Drizzle on foliage. Cool nights at 2,400 m mean mist sits in the valley at first light on many mornings.

Permits

No permit. Private/municipal concession, entrance fee ~Q60 foreigners (+~Q25 for the lower gorge pools, ~Q10–25 vehicle). GATE 09:00–18:00; day visitors expected out by ~17:00. Overnight guests in the on-site cabins, or campers in the car park, are inside the gate and can work dawn — this is the fix for the 09:00 opening and it should be booked, not improvised. The public Zunil access road below the gate is habitat and is not gated. NO PLAYBACK: it is standard guide practice here and it makes any resulting image WPY-ineligible under rule 4.5 (luring with sound). Agree this with any guide in advance.

Getting there

Fly to Guatemala City (GUA). Drive to Quetzaltenango/Xela ~4 h. Xela to Fuentes Georginas ~40 min (via Zunil, then 8 km of steep winding road; taxi from Xela ~Q84, or tuk-tuk from the Zunil turn-off ~Q50–60). Base in Xela for comfort, OR take a cabin on site for dawn access — proximity beats comfort here. Rental 4WD is worth it for the road. Altitude 2,400 m is a non-issue for fitness but cold at night. Pair with Cerro Tecpán, Todos Santos and Volcán San Pedro to make the flight worthwhile.

Who runs trips here: CAYAYA BIRDING (Knut Eisermann and Claudia Avendaño, cayaya-birding.com) — the strongest choice by a distance. Eisermann is a published Guatemalan ornithologist (Eisermann & Avendaño, Annotated Checklist of the Birds of Guatemala, Lynx 2007) with a dedicated species page and gallery for this bird, so he is both a booking route and the right person to ask the phenology question before committing to dates. Birding Expeditions Guatemala and Birdwatching Guatemala are local alternatives. No photography-specific hide operation exists here; this is self-directed roadside work.

Confidence: medium · Last verified 30 Aug 2026

Cerro Tecpán reserve and Rincón Suizo, near Tecpán, Chimaltenango Dept, roughly km 92 of the Interamerican Highway. Pine-oak and fir (Abies guatemalensis) forest around 2,300–2,800 m. Groups with Astillero municipal park, San Marcos (2,100–3,105 m) and Todos Santos Cuchumatanes as the secondary Guatemalan highland options., Guatemala

Peak

Assume the same January peak as Fuentes Georginas. NOT independently established for this site.

Days needed

2 days

Behaviour

Courtship / display

Coat

Not applicable

Habitat

Dry season / dust

Crowds

Quiet

Also here

Pink-headed Warbler (the site's headline bird and a strong subject in its own right), Blue-throated Motmot, Rufous-browed Wren, Black-capped Siskin, Goldman's Warbler (Todos Santos), Golden-crowned Kinglet, Central American Steller's Jay, Mountain Trogon, plus wintering Townsend's, Hermit, Wilson's and Red-faced Warblers Dec–Mar.

Light

Same latitude band and same solar geometry as Fuentes Georginas (~54° max altitude in January, ~25 min golden hour each end). BUT the critical difference is that this is drier pine-oak, not Pacific-slope cloud forest, so the reliable midday cloud that rescues Fuentes Georginas is NOT expected here. Without that cloud the shootable window really is only ~2.5 h/day. Offsetting advantage: these are roadside and reserve sites with no 09:00 gate problem, so the dawn block is actually accessible — the reverse of the Fuentes Georginas trade.

Weather risk

High wind

Atmosphere

Cold clear highland dawns at 2,500 m+ can produce ground mist and, in the Cuchumatanes, occasional frost — Xela recorded −10 °C in January 2002. Backlit pine haze. Less atmospheric on average than the cloud-forest sites.

Permits

Small entry fees at the community/municipal reserves; no permits or quotas known. Same no-playback rule applies for WPY eligibility.

Getting there

Tecpán is ~2 h from Guatemala City and ~1 h from Antigua on the Interamerican Highway — the easiest highland access in the country and a natural first or last stop. Todos Santos is a further 4–5 h northwest into Huehuetenango.

Who runs trips here: CAYAYA BIRDING; Birding Expeditions Guatemala. Tecpán is on nearly every Guatemala highlands itinerary, usually for Pink-headed Warbler rather than for this species.

Confidence: low · Last verified 30 Aug 2026

Parque Nacional La Tigra, 22–27 km north of Tegucigalpa, Francisco Morazán Dept. Cloud forest and pine-oak, 1,650–2,270 m. The specific target is a shrub-laden ravine near the SUMMIT, reached by walking up an old access road — Naturalist Journeys' Honduras itinerary states that one or two males 'guard' it. Two entrances with visitor centres and eco-lodges: Jutiapa (west, main, most trails) and El Rosario (east, via San Juancito, 1,650 m)., Honduras

Peak

Early February is the operator-chosen window (Naturalist Journeys' Honduras hummingbird tour schedules La Tigra for 4 Feb; Birdquest recorded it here on their 2024 Guatemala & Honduras tour). Phenology for the Honduran population is even less documented than for Guatemala — treat Jan–Feb as inference from Guatemala plus operator scheduling.

Days needed

4 days

Behaviour

Courtship / display, Territorial fighting

Coat

Not applicable

Habitat

Green season / lush

Crowds

Quiet

Also here

Green-breasted Mountain-gem (a Honduras/Nicaragua endemic worth its own row), Amethyst-throated and Garnet-throated Hummingbirds, Sparkling-tailed Hummingbird, nominate Resplendent Quetzal (longer-tailed than Costa Rican birds), Highland Guan, Singing Quail, White-faced Quail-Dove, Mountain Trogon, Emerald Toucanet, Slate-colored Solitaire, White-breasted Hawk, Golden-cheeked Warbler in winter.

Light

14.1°N — essentially the same solar geometry as Fuentes Georginas: max altitude ~54–55° in mid-January, golden hour ~25 min per end, clear-sky shootable light ~2.5–3 h/day. La Tigra is a genuine cloud forest and holds mist, so the same cloud-as-soft-light-source logic applies. UNVERIFIED: no monthly overcast frequency figures specific to La Tigra were found, so the softness assumption here is inference from habitat type, not from data. Park opening hours also NOT VERIFIED — but both visitor centres have eco-lodges and camping, so on-site overnight stay is available and removes the dawn-access risk. The summit ravine is an uphill walk from the entrance, so budget the hike into the pre-dawn plan rather than assuming you can be in position at first light.

Weather risk

Fog / mist (asset)

Atmosphere

Cloud-forest mist through old oaks, bromeliads and tree ferns; the forest structure here is more closed and more atmospheric than the road-edge habitat at Fuentes Georginas, which suits a darker, more enclosed treatment.

Permits

No permit; park entrance fee (~USD 10 reported), parking fee, additional fee for overnight. Six to eight marked trails, walkable without a guide. Personal-security planning for the Tegucigalpa transfer is a real consideration and should be checked against current advice before booking.

Getting there

Fly to Tegucigalpa (TGU) or Comayagua (XPL). 45–60 min drive to the Jutiapa entrance via V-660/El Hatillo; 1.5 h to El Rosario via Valle de Ángeles and San Juancito. Eco-lodge rooms at Jutiapa reported around L475/person; cabin at Mirador El Rosario. La Estancia hotel sits just outside the Jutiapa entrance. Combines with Cerro de Hula, Opatoro/Guajiquiro and Lake Yojoa for a 7–10 day Honduras highlands trip.

Who runs trips here: Alexander Alvarado and Olbin Rodríguez are named local bird guides working La Tigra. Beaks and Peaks and Naturalist Journeys both run Honduras highland itineraries built around this park. No photography hide.

Confidence: medium · Last verified 30 Aug 2026

Same site as the Dec–Feb window: Fuentes Georginas and the Zunil access road, ~2,400 m, Quetzaltenango Dept., Guatemala

Peak

Early March only. Naturalist Journeys' 10 March 2026 itinerary describes finding 'a late Wine-throated Hummingbird', which is the language of a closing window. By April assume no display.

Days needed

7 days

Behaviour

Courtship / display

Coat

Not applicable

Habitat

Dry season / dust, Green season / lush

Crowds

Moderate

Also here

Same Fuentes Georginas suite as the Dec–Feb window, minus the wintering Nearctic warblers, which are largely gone by late March.

Light

Materially worse than Dec–Feb on both axes. Max solar altitude climbs from ~54° in mid-Jan to ~75° by mid-March and past 85° in April — the sun goes nearly overhead and the midday write-off becomes total. March is also the sunniest month recorded for the region (~8.3 h daily sunshine) and one of the hottest, so the reliable orographic cloud that makes this site work is at its least reliable. Effective shootable light collapses back to two short golden-hour blocks of ~25 min each — and the 09:00 gate opening eats the morning one unless staying on site. This is the low-latitude dry-season worst case described in the standing constraints.

Weather risk

Extreme heat and Heat haze (kills long lens)

Atmosphere

Occasional afternoon build-up, but far less dependable than Dec–Feb. Nothing here is a reason to choose these months.

Permits

As Dec–Feb: no permit, entrance fee, 09:00–18:00 gate. Semana Santa (variable, late Mar/Apr) makes Guatemalan hot springs extremely busy — avoid that week entirely.

Getting there

Identical to the Dec–Feb window — same flights, same drive, same cabins. Nothing about the logistics is worse; only the bird and the light are.

Who runs trips here: CAYAYA BIRDING; Birding Expeditions Guatemala. Most operator itineraries that run in March do NOT promise this species, which is itself the signal.

Confidence: medium · Last verified 30 Aug 2026

Reserva de la Biosfera El Triunfo, Sierra Madre de Chiapas, Mexico. Cloud forest 450–2,450 m; the Costa trail down the Pacific slope from the El Triunfo camp is where displaying birds have been documented at close range., Mexico

Peak

None establishable. The traditional visitor season is the Feb–May dry window, which sits at or after the tail of the display period rather than on it — the core timing conflict for this window.

Days needed

10 days

Behaviour

Courtship / display

Coat

Not applicable

Habitat

Green season / lush

Crowds

Permit-limited / quota

Also here

Horned Guan (the reason most people go), Resplendent Quetzal, Azure-rumped/Cabanis's Tanager, Green-throated Mountain-gem, Sparkling-tailed Hummingbird, Rufous Sabrewing, Highland Guan, Fulvous Owl, Spotted Nightingale-Thrush, and mammals including ocelot.

Light

15.7°N. By March max solar altitude is already ~75° and by May it is effectively overhead — the worst light of the year at this latitude. Offsetting factor: this is one of the wettest and most persistently misted regions in Mexico, and the forest is closed enough that canopy diffusion, not sun angle, governs the light on the ground. Under closed cloud-forest canopy in mist the light can be workable all day, but it is DARK — several stops down, on a 7 cm bird, at long focal length. Expect ISO 6400+ and to accept it.

Weather risk

Fog / mist (asset) and Rainy season

Atmosphere

The best atmosphere of any location for this species: primary cloud forest, near-permanent mist, no roads, no infrastructure in frame. If the picture is going to be carried by weather rather than by the bird, this is where that happens.

Permits

The blocker. CONANP permits required, daily visitor limits enforced, entry ~M$215/person/day. The entrance policy CHANGED RECENTLY — Legacy Tours has stopped running its annual February open tours and states that future entries depend on permits granted 'at short notice as directed by the reserve management'. Historically only Ecobiósfera (Tuxtla Gutiérrez) was authorised to bring visitors in, on small-group multi-day treks. Core zone is research-and-conservation only. Mexico lists this species as Threatened (NOM-059), so extra restraint applies here specifically.

Getting there

Fly Mexico City to Tuxtla Gutiérrez (no international airport in Chiapas). Then a long road transfer and a hard multi-day hike in and out — historically ten days up the north flank and down the Pacific side, camping. Physically demanding, steep, wet, with real trail-condition risk. Minimum practical trip is around 10–12 days.

Who runs trips here: Ecobiósfera (Tuxtla Gutiérrez) historically; Legacy Tours on a custom-permission basis only. No photography-specific operation.

Confidence: medium · Last verified 30 Aug 2026