My son, Nate, just called. He observed a hummingbird at Munsinger Gardens
(St. Cloud) this afternoon with purple rather than red under its chin. He
is confident about the coloration due to close viewing (four feet away). In
all other ways the hummer was identical to a male Ruby-throated. This leads
to three obvious questions:
1) Have Ruby-throated been observed with purple throats?
2) Can a Ruby-throated's throat appear purple (he described it as "Viking
purple", curious for a Packer fan:) ) up close for an extended period of
time?
3) What is the possibility of a Black-chinned appearing in the upper Midwest
during spring?
Thanks!
Al Schirmacher
Princeton, MN
Mille Lacs & Sherburne Counties
----
Join or Leave mou-net:http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net
Archives:http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
