Glittering-bellied Emerald at Atlantic Rainforest

The Atlantic Rainforest—Brazil's fragmented but still magnificent Mata Atlântica, once running almost unbroken from the northeast down through the southern states and climbing inland across mist-shrouded escarpments—remains a rewarding place to find the Glittering-bellied Emerald. Photographers joining Birds of Brazil in May should keep cameras ready as they move through these surviving forest tracts, watching for the flash of iridescent green this tiny hummingbird is named for. The steep, humid terrain calls for patience and a willingness to work quickly when the light and the bird align. As with all hummingbird photography here, a fast shutter speed will help freeze that glittering plumage in flight.