The Sparkling Violetear Hummingbird is quite common in the mountainous areas of South America. It is more solitary than many other Hummingbirds, quite large (about 14cm) and is an avid nectar eater. Yet what I find truly compelling about these birds is their aggressive, territorial nature. Squabbling, fighting, posing and squawking appears to be normal daily behaviour. I first noticed this while I was waiting for the Marvellous Spatuletail to arrive. When Spatuletail did emerge, he never stayed loner than a few seconds because the Violetears just attacked. I certainly was not expecting a hummingbird’s behaviour to be this aggressive. If you look closely at this photograph you will also notice that in a confrontation (such as the one shown in this photograph), their violet coloured ears sick out.