Your Support Is Helping Protect the Santa Marta Sabrewing
When I began creating Endangered Hummingbirds: Seeing the Crisis Through My Lens, I made a promise to myself and to the readers who would eventually support it: $5 from every book sold would go directly toward on-the-ground efforts to protect a hummingbird species in need.
Today, I am incredibly grateful to share what that promise is helping accomplish.
So far, 156 copies of Endangered Hummingbirds have been sold, and $777 from those book sales has now been donated to the International Hummingbird Society to support conservation efforts for the Santa Marta Sabrewing, one of the rarest hummingbirds on Earth.
More than anything, I want to say thank you. Every person who has purchased this book has helped make this contribution possible.
Why the Santa Marta Sabrewing
The Santa Marta Sabrewing is found only in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta of northern Colombia and is listed as Critically Endangered. Its population is extremely small and declining, its range is highly restricted, and its habitat continues to be threatened by deforestation and agricultural expansion.
For years, there was genuine concern that the species might already have disappeared.
It had not been documented since 2010 and was known from only a handful of historical records. Then, in July 2022, a male Santa Marta Sabrewing was remarkably rediscovered and photographed in the wild, only the second documented sighting of the species in more than a decade.
Its rediscovery brought hope, but it also demonstrated just how precarious its future remains.
Today, the known population is believed to number fewer than 50 individuals. Protecting and restoring the humid and riparian forests it depends upon is critical if this species is going to survive.
I have had the extraordinary privilege of photographing the Santa Marta Sabrewing. Standing in its habitat and seeing one of so few remaining individuals through my camera changed the statistics into something very real.
From Photography to Action
I have always wanted my photography to do more than document the beauty of hummingbirds. I want it to help people understand what is at stake and, whenever possible, turn awareness into conservation action.
That feeling became especially powerful when I reviewed the video footage I captured of the Santa Marta Sabrewing.
A photograph allows me to preserve what the hummingbird looked like in that moment. Video captured something else: its movement, its behavior, and its voice.
Hearing its calls and chirps carries a haunting thought. If we fail to protect this species, recordings like these could someday represent some of the last preserved sounds of the Santa Marta Sabrewing in the wild.
That is difficult for me to contemplate.
It is also why supporting conservation on the ground matters so much.
And this effort has grown beyond my own contribution.
The International Hummingbird Society presented American Bird Conservancy with $7,777 to support conservation efforts for the Santa Marta Sabrewing.
That total came together through several people who chose to act.
$5,000 came from the family foundation of a dear friend of mine who saw how passionate I was about protecting these hummingbirds and chose to stand beside me in helping make a difference.
Another $2,000 came from an amazing member of the International Hummingbird Society who recognized the urgency surrounding the Santa Marta Sabrewing.
And $777 came from sales of Endangered Hummingbirds: Seeing the Crisis Through My Lens and the commitment I made while creating the book.
Together:
$5,000 + $2,000 + $777 = $7,777 for the Santa Marta Sabrewing.
That same IHS member also contributed an additional $4,000 toward research and a new population count of the Juan Fernández Firecrown on Robinson Crusoe Island in Chile.
That work is equally important. The Juan Fernández Firecrown is another hummingbird facing an uncertain future, and its last population estimate dates back to 2015, when roughly 1,000 individuals were believed to remain. More than a decade later, an updated count is vital to understanding the current population and determining what conservation actions are needed next.
This is what I hoped could happen when I started connecting my photography more directly with conservation.
One person cares. Another sees the need and steps forward. Others join them. What begins with a photograph, a book, or a conversation can grow into real support for researchers and conservationists working where these birds actually live.
Thank You
To everyone who has purchased Endangered Hummingbirds: Seeing the Crisis Through My Lens, thank you.
Those 156 books represent far more to me than a sales milestone. Each purchase has helped fulfill the promise I made when creating this book and has contributed to something tangible for a hummingbird whose future remains frighteningly uncertain.
Thank you as well to the friends, members of the International Hummingbird Society, conservation partners, and others who have chosen to stand behind these efforts.
The Santa Marta Sabrewing was once feared lost.
Today, it is still here.
And while there is still time to protect it, I believe we have a responsibility to try.
Help Me Continue the Journey
There are still hummingbird species remaining on my journey to photograph them all, including species facing serious conservation challenges.
If you would like to help me continue this work, you can support upcoming expeditions that will take me into the field to photograph, document, and share the stories of these remarkable hummingbirds.
Your support helps make the next expedition possible.