Continuing our visit in Estes Park, I took my regular early morning walk on the west end of town to bird and buy the Denver Post. At the intersection of Lower Broadview and Marys Lake Road, I saw a bright green male hummingbird with a ruby-red gorget feeding on a low flower near the road. I was looking down at the bird from no more than 10 feet away. What immediately struck me was the lack of a wing trill as the bird hovered while feeding and when it flew away. All the male Broad-tailed Hummingbirds I have ever observed have the wing trill when hovering to feed and when flying. This is not a voluntary sound since it results from the structure of the wing. The bird guides note that the trill may be absent in the fall due to feather wear. The species account in Birds of North America online notes --"Trill is naturally muted by wear, often inaudible by midwinter." But this bird is flying around in May.
The bird flew out of sight before I could get my camera ready. I am very familiar with Ruby-throated Hummingbirds from observations at home in Maryland (our only regular hummer). My brief observation and angle of view did not allow me to note key field marks like the coloring of the breast and armpits, the shape of the tail, and whether the bird had a black "chinstrap" at the top of its gorget which would distinguish it from a Broad-tailed Hummingbird. My quick impression of the "jizz" of the bird was Ruby-throated. So my question for seasoned Colorado birders is whether folks have observed spring male Broad-tailed Hummingbirds that do not produce the wing trill. For now, I have entered this hummer in eBird as "hummingbird sp." but I might change that based on what I hear from you. Thanks. Jim Nelson -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/163b81414c3-c92-29817%40webjas-vae164.srv.aolmail.net. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
