Iconography of Maya painted scenes on Vases and Bowls that feature Creatures or Monsters with very very long, thin beaks: Hummingbirds, Composite Mosquito Monsters, and composite Hummingbird Moths

Written by Nicholas Hellmuth
On September 7, 2026

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Oswaldo Chinchilla has published a very helpful report on hummingbirds in Classic Maya art, but Senaida Ba Mucu, and then independently Sergio Jerez (FLAAR Mesoamerica team) and then independently Teco (Moises Daniel Perez Diaz, park ranger at PNYNN) all three recognized a monstrous Maya creature potentially never before recognized by Maya iconographers, epigraphers or archaeologists. All this is shown in hundreds of drawings and photographs for this in-person lecture by Hellmuth at Museo Fundacion La Ruta Maya, Guatemala City.

We appreciate the invitation by Mtra. Sophia Parades, curator and director, and Lic. Jorge Mario Rodríguez Barrios, head librarian of the Museo Fundacion La Ruta Maya. This is definitely a museum you should visit to learn more about Maya art and iconography. Plus they have an excellent research library.