Is there anywhere in Australia where I might see bee hummingbirds? Failing that, what are my cheapest travel options to see some?
If interested in hummingbirds, and they are fantastic, I would be hopping on a cheap flight to LA, grabbing a car then head east to Arizona. See the Grand Canyon and some of the other fantastic sites Arizona has to offer but make sure you go to the Arizona Senora Desert Museum. Their hummingbird aviary is outstanding. Come back via San Diego, and you have had a great trip. You will almost certainly see hummingbirds in the wild, as well. Pics from the ASDM. I was there last March.
If interested in Hummingbirds, travel to Costa Rica. There are few in captivity, hard to keep alive and even harder to breed...
They are a group of birds with challenges but in the end they are not that difficult if you take into account some basic rules: Keep birds alone in aviaries (unless your space is so big they can avoid eachother) Keep the environment suitable for the species (temperature and humidity, additional light-hours) Food available all the time during daylight. The main problem has been a good founding population as it always has been challenging to transport birds that are so small and have such a high metabolism. People and institutions that invested in them always were quite fast successful.
