My guess about the hummingbird would be that a predator grabbed, then lost it. In any case, missing that many feathers doesn't bode well for migration.
Amy Amy Cervene Arvada, Jefferson On Fri, Sep 3, 2021 at 8:17 PM Jared Del Rosso <[email protected]> wrote: > I'm going to work backward through my evening of birding around my > neighborhood in Centennial tonight. > > Fairly deep into dusk, around 7:40 PM, I stepped outside and startled a > hummingbird away from the agastaches (rupestris and cana) growing at my > front steps. The bird stalled at some wilty, orange container plants, and I > noticed what appeared to be a "crest" on the hummer. I went back in, nabbed > my binoculars, and had really poor views of what appeared to be a molting > or sickly hummer. It appeared to be missing feathers on its heads, giving > it that crest appearance. And it appeared to be missing a number of tail > feathers. There was a lot of white appearing in the tail, more than I'm > used to seeing. But I think I was actually seeing the rump of the bird, not > the tail, and I suspect the latter was mostly missing. > > I couldn't get pictures of the bird, which retreated as I went back in to > get my camera. > > Does anyone have experience seeing a hummingbird that looks like this (in > general terms) at this time of year? My suspicion is that it is an ill > bird, as molting would be a bad strategy (I think?) in September for one of > our resident or migratory hummingbirds. Certainly, I've not seen a > hummingbird look like this at this time of year. > > If it's here tomorrow, I'll try to get photos. My front is planted to > attract hummingbirds -- lots of agastaches, penstemons, and figwort -- so > hopefully that will help this bird, whatever it's situation, along. > > Earlier, I walked to Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens, motivated by David > Suddjian's report from Littleton Cemetery. Glad I went. I spent a half hour > or so at the entrance, with sparrows, Bushtits, a Wilson's Warbler, a > pewee, and one unidentified ground skulker (towhee probably, but who > knows). > > Though I arrived at the cemetery motivated by David Suddjian, I tried to > conjure Dave Leatherman while watching the Bushtit flock, attempting to > understand their behavior by the available food. Occasionally, I'd see one > acrobatically reach from a shrub down to the wilty stalks of prickly > lettuce (or at least I think that's what they were), where it would explore > the plants seedheads and stems. I decided to inspect the plants, not > expecting to find anything. But there appeared to be aphids (or at least I > think that's what they were) a-plenty on the plants. I couldn't get photos > of the small, green insects with wings, and, unfortunately, my photos of > the tiny white insects the flying ones left behind are a blurry mess. (Bad > job at documentation today, huh?) > > On the weedy hill in the back of the cemetery, two Loggerhead Shrikes (the > bird David reported from Littleton Cemetery, which started this voyage). > This is the first time I've seen multiple Loggerhead's in a local hotspot > in the Littleton - Centennial - Greenwood Village area that I bird. > > On my way out, my own motivation: Common Nighthawks, flying with purpose, > over the cemetery. I counted six during my time there, including the last > bird of the evening...until the hummer that started this post. > > - Jared Del Rosso > Centennial, CO > > -- > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "Colorado Birds" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en?hl=en > * All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include > bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate > * Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/CFO/Membership/ > --- > 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 view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/5b127bd9-0bd8-435a-be30-dd80144f1d47n%40googlegroups.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/5b127bd9-0bd8-435a-be30-dd80144f1d47n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en?hl=en * All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate * Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/CFO/Membership/ --- 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 view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CA%2BJWw_%2B5UMXWft-e6bPuVj0rG8ieXg_GgU8j_LmaQj%3DU7STAEg%40mail.gmail.com.
