The Problem with Hummingbirds

The problem with hummingbirds is that they look different in different light.  Sometimes that makes them more interesting, but sometimes it just makes identification more difficult.

While in Costa Rica we saw many hummingbirds.  A few were easy to identify, many were not.  At the time it was easy because we had Steve our guide there telling us that this is a Scintillant and that is a Volcano.  I snapped photos happily and never dreamed that when I looked at them later I would have no idea which was which and no memory of which one we saw at 8:36 and which was at 10:24.

I mentioned those two because they are the ones that are causing the most trouble. I found a website that showed photos of males and females of both which one would think would make identification easier.  One would think.  But then we are back to the problem of lighting.  None of my photos showed a bright purple or orange throat.  And my birds did not cooperate like the ones on the website and sit side by side on a branch--still--and pointing in the same direction.

So here are photos of a new hybrd discovered last December:  Scintillant-Volcano Hummingbirds.

Okay, perhaps I exaggerate a bit.  I labelled the first three pictures Scintillant and the next two Volcano.  I'd like to name the last one a Volcano as well, but I'm too confused to commit myself.

If you would like to weigh in on this (please do) here is the link to the Neotropical page that shows what these birds can look like under great lighting. I'd love to know for sure which is which.
http://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/portal/species/identification?p_p_spp=281496