Sheri Williamson (author of the Peterson hummingbird field guide) was out of town when I wrote to her about the hummingbird coming to my feeder. She answered me yesterday: "I'm solidly with Don (Mitchell) on this being an adult female, based on the relatively large gorget patch with small, oval iridescent areas on feathers around its edge (they'd be big and round in an immature male) and the amount and distribution of white in the tail (more than typical for juvenile males). I also agree with Don that the slight emargination at the tip of R2 (more a subtle "nipple" than a distinct notch) indicates Rufous. In this age/sex category, I'd expect much narrower tail feathers than this bird shows, though, as Don suggests, eyeballing rectrix width is tricky business except for individuals near the far ends of their respective bell curves. Still, I'd have no qualms about recommending that this bird be accepted into the state records as a Rufous."
Sheri added some points about feeding, and about when she might move on: "Warming the solution is a great idea (she won't have to use as many calories to bring each sip up to her body temperature), but I'd strongly advise switching to 1:3 or even slightly stronger as soon as possible (though with a weaker solution in a second feeder nearby so that she has a choice). Though she's in primary molt and could use some protein, what she needs most right now is to store some fat so that she can move on if/when her instincts tell her to. The fact that this is an adult bird suggests that she's successfully passed at least one winter somewhere south or east of you. My suspicion is that she was headed there when she "ran out of gas" and got stuck around the only reliable energy source she could find. If you bump up the caloric content of the feeder solution, she may be able to tip her energy balance back toward having enough excess to rebuild some fat deposits." The hummingbird was at the feeder on and off all day, with the high temperature 39. She last appeared in the upstairs window feeder at 2:44 pm. I'd like to thank Val Cunningham for keeping birders abreast of the news about her, and my mother-in-law for keeping the feeders filled and fresh. I'll be updating the webpage tonight, so if anyone has photos they'd like me to add to the collection, please send them. Laura Erickson Duluth, MN NOTE address change: [email protected] Producer, "For the Birds" radio program <http://www.lauraerickson.com/> There is symbolic as well as actual beauty in the migration of birds. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature--the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after the winter. --Rachel Carson
