The Black-throated Mango (Anthracothorax nigricollis) is a mainly South American hummingbird species.
They have a huge range from Venezuela and the Guyanas, south to central Brazil, Peru, Ecuador and northern Bolivia; also from Colombia into southern Panama. Yerette in Trinidad is a good place to see them.
Why is everyone looking at me?
Quick visit to a feeder
Theo & Gloria Fergusson, the owners of Yerette must have one of the best lifestyles in the world! Their beautiful home high atop a hill in the lush Maracas Valley in Trinidad is a sanctuary for 1000’s of brilliant glittering hummingbirds! Out of all the bird species we don’t have in Australia, hummingbirds are the one I miss the most so I like to take any opportunity to see them overseas. The general consensus on Trip Advisor is “magic” and I have to agree!
The word “Yerette” means hummingbird in the original Amerindian language.Trinidad even features them on the national Coat of Arms, currency and passport, as the hummingbird is an important symbol of the country. Caribbean Airlines has the hummingbird as their logo as well.
At Yerette, visitors are able to see and observe 13 of the 17 hummingbird species recorded in this country, of hummingbirds at a very close range. These include:
1.Black-throated Mango
2.Blue-chinned Sapphire
3.Brown Violetear
4.Copper-rumped Hummingbird
5.Green Hermit
6.Green-throated Mango
7.Little Hermit
8.Long-billed Starthroat
9.Ruby Topaz
10.Rufous-breasted Hermit
11.Tufted Coquette
12.White-chested Emerald
13.White-necked Jacobin
I managed to see 10 out of the 13 (bolding) and did my best to identify the photos below but many are too dark or blurry. I did get Tufted Coquette at Asa Wright’s so it’s really necessary to visit both places to see as many Trindadian hummingbirds as possible.
The price of admission is $TT150, and includes a light meal, interesting presentation by Theo on the hummingbirds and access to all the hummingbird feeders in the garden where you can TRY to take photos of these rapidly flittering flying jewels. Theo has photos for sale which are better quality than most people will get on their own. You need to book in advance by calling 1-868-663-2623 as there are sessions at different times of day. They will email you precise directions when you book. It doesn’t matter which session you choose as hummingbirds must feed every 10 minutes throughout the day.
The area where Yerette is located.
Entering Yerette and the hummingbird garden.
Theo’s presentation on the hummingbirds.
Green-throated Mango 
Green-throated Mango 
White-necked Jacobin 
Copper-rumped Hummingbird 
Little Hermit 
Black-throated Mango
Rufous-breasted Hermit 
Ruby Topaz 
Ruby Topaz 
Ruby Topaz 
White-chested Emerald 
White-chested Emerald 
Brown Violetear 
Purple Honeycreeper
Green-throated Mango 
Ruby Topaz Hummingbird? 
Blue-chinned Sapphire 
Black-throated Mango
Ruby Topaz Hummingbird? 
White-necked Jacobin 
Yellow Oriole 
Blue-chinned Sapphire 
It started raining as we headed back down the steep hill, you can see how high it is.
The Ruby-topaz Hummingbird (Chrysolampis mosquitus), commonly referred to simply as the Ruby topaz, is a small bird that breeds in the Lesser Antilles and tropical northern South America. It is the only member of the genus Chrysolampis. This stunning little beauty is a seasonal migrant, although its movements are not well understood. I took these photos at Yerette in Trinidad. Better photos are in the links below.
They have a huge range from Venezuela and the Guyanas, south to central Brazil and northern Bolivia; also from Colombia into southern Panama. Yerette in Trinidad is a good place to see them.
Watch how his colours change in the light as he moves!
A very lucky group of birders have found some Ruby-topazes in the wild, see the little guys in action!
Sound of the Ruby-topaz
The Orange-winged Amazon (Amazona amazonica), also known locally as Orange-winged Parrot, Curica and Loro Guaro, is a large amazon parrot. Its habitat is forest and semi-open country. I took these photos in Nariva Swamp.
They have a huge range from Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago south to Peru, Bolivia and central Brazil. I have seen them in the Pantanal, on Parrot Island near Belem and Nariva Swamp in Trinidad.
I had to wade through a lot of pet bird videos to find these wild birds!
I posted about this cool promo before but it bears a reminder since there are only a few days left. I have done several transfers and they all posted instantly complete with bonus!
Pretty much ALL Scottevest products are on sale through 28 November with promo code Cyber16 and it’s already started! I use the vests and jackets all the time to carry my tablet/laptop and any heavy books that would otherwise put me over the 7kg cabin bag allowance. I also keep my docs, credit cards, USB drives, etc in the jacket so if there is ever a need for emergency evacuation, I am already wearing my valuables.
If you aren’t familiar with Scottevest’s pockets, please see my review here.
Nariva Swamp is high on most birders’ lists to visit in Trinidad. I would have preferred to get here earlier but we arrived around 8am due to getting lost. We headed to the main birding spot – Kernahan Road. I was targeting parrots of course plus anyone else who flew by. Flying by at great speed was one pair of Red-bellied Macaws even before we turned off the main road to Kernahan Road but they disappeared before I could get a shot and I couldn’t find them again.
We didn’t see either the monkey or the macaw this time. Probably because we got there so late.
This is where I saw the Red-bellied Macaws fly overhead while we were driving.
Turn left here. Then just drive very slowly and keep your ears and eyes open!
Great Egret
Swallow
Smooth-billed Ani
Ruddy Ground Dove
Orange-winged Parrots (Amazons)
Yellow Oriole 
Great Egret
There are a few must-see birding hotspots and with only 2 full days I had organized two very ambitious itineraries. The first day involved driving out to Nariva Swamp before dawn, getting to Yerette (Hummingbirds) for lunch, then doing the sunset boat ride at Caroni Bird Sanctuary. What I didn’t realize is how confusing some of the roads were and without a GPS, we would get lost several times. Ordinarily getting lost isn’t a bad thing as you can stumble into some pretty cool places but I really needed to get to all these places on time. This is what it looked like (blue is Google maps, red is how we got to Nariva Swamp and green is getting back to Yerette.
I have no idea where most of these places are, I was just snapping photos out the window to show every day Trinidad life.
I love this colour!
Public transport
Pretty police station
After finally finding the road to Nariva, we stopped here to buy food and drinks.
The sea at last!
Yay, we found it!
This next group of photos is getting back from Nariva to Yerette. We ended up in some really remote rural area and only got back to the main road after following a local man who was headed that way.
The Radisson Hotel Trinidad is one of the few hotels you can book with points (44,000 Club Carlson) that has lots of birding options within day trip range. It’s centrally located in the main city, Port of Spain. Driving from the airport, this lighthouse is a landmark and signal to start watching for the hotel on the right. Once you see it, flip a U at the nearest opportunity, come back around and into the hotel’s free parking with security guard.
We arrived just after dark. It’s not a good idea to wander around Port of Spain at night.
There is a large lobby with the usual services.
Room was pleasant, good-sized and the wifi worked well. 
In the morning, we could see the view of the Hyatt, the port and the swimming pool down below.
The night we arrived, we decided to treat ourselves to the revolving restaurant on the top floor-the only one of its kind in the Caribbean. 
There are lower priced items on the menu like pastas so this doesn’t have to be too expensive. It was cool to see the city views change as the restaurant slowly revolved.
I’d say this hotel is a good use of Club Carlson points if you have them. Trinidad can be pricey (as is most of the Caribbean) and the hotel is pretty nice. Staff were friendly and eager to help and answer questions. People on Trip Advisor tend to give it 3-5 stars, I gave it 4.
Sometimes I manage to get discounted rates that include collision damage waiver on a rental car but Hertz in Trinidad wasn’t one of these times. I was relying on my credit card’s insurance by paying for the car with the card. However I really didn’t want to have to stress over nicks and dings and go back and forth with Hertz and the credit card insurer so I always take a few precautions when picking up the car. I am not picking on Hertz and we didn’t have any problems with this rental but I am illustrating what everyone should do when they pick up a rental car from any company to avoid hassle.
I take photos of the car from every angle both on pick up and return. 
Get a photo of the fuel gauge so you can prove you returned it with the correct amount. In some places it won’t always be on full so you have to match whatever it was when you picked it up.
Get close-ups of any nicks and dings. Usually a smartphone camera is fine. 
Check the tires (tyres) and make sure they are in good condition.
I have read a lot of horror stories about people getting blamed for small damages that were already on the car because they didn’t take a few precautions. Don’t forget to take the same photos on the return. Try to avoid returning a car after hours. When the employees see you being extremely cautions they are less likely to try to pin something on you and will move on to someone who seems to be an easier mark. Hopefully most car hire companies are honest but there are bad apples in every bunch so better safe than sorry.