While raking leaves in my backyard in the early evening (5:30) of Sun,
Oct 23, I noticed a hummingbird at the feeder we had delinquenly left
out so long. I thought this odd, so I texted Nick Komar this
observation, and he encouraged me to get photos, which I was able to
get at around 6:00. A quick review (after dark) of these suggested to
me a sub-adult male Black-chinned Hummingbird or possibly a Ruby-
throated Hummingbird. These were the only two birds I considered at
the time. When I checked in Sibley, to myself I ruled out Ruby-
throated because the wing tips reached the end of the tail, so I
thought it was a sub-adult male Black-chinned Hummingbird; I had had a
female Black-chinned Hummingbird at the same feeder in the spring, so
I thought this not horribly unexpected and that it was just a late-
leaving bird. Monday I saw the bird again in the evening and got more
photos, but I did not get them to Nick until Tuesday afternoon. After
review, Nick was undecided but thought Ruby-throated was still
possible, so he came to my house to observe the bird and take some
photos. The bird cooperated, and we were able to review both sets of
photos closely. Several characteristics did not fit with either Black-
chinned or Ruby-throated, and Nick suggested female Anna’s
Hummingbird, which we then evaluated. After working through the key
ID markers, we agreed. Those were:
1. Throat patch more complete and triangular/trapezoidal shaped,
rather than splotchy, favoring Anna’s female over both male Black-
chinned and male Ruby-throated (or either of these female)
2. White around the eye was not just a triangularish shape behind the
eye, but was also connected over the top and to the front
3. Straight bill, not long
4. No rufous coloration along sides
5. We only got one photo of the tail with feathers spread, and the
images are faint. Nevertheless, it is visible that the black pattern
is uneven between and within the feathers at the black and green/gray
border (R4-R5 especially), and there is hardly any white on the tip of
the third tail feather (R3).
6. Consulting Williamson in addition to Sibley, the wing feathers
appear consistent with Anna’s, being reasonably evenly sized on the
inner primaries and not pointed, but I admitedly found this more
difficult to interpret.
7. Timing (late October, early November) is consistent with
previously reported Anna’s Hummingbird in Larimer county, I came to
find out thanks to Dave Leatherman. (I’m reasonably new to bird
reporting, so I was unaware of this report.)
Given that every point we checked was consistent with a female Anna’s
Hummingbird, I am reporting this sighting, having in the end seen the
bird each day 10/23-25.
My photos are available for viewing at
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=eyepatchtattoo&target=ALBUM&id=5667521026527185057&authkey=Gv1sRgCOSvsPaXqNGRzgE&feat=email
Nick Komar’s photos are available at
http://www.pbase.com/quetzal/anhu10252011
We did not come to this ID until late in the afternoon on Tuesday,
right before my kids got home from school. With obligations into the
evening, I was not able to post this right away to COBirds,
unfortunately, though I did call neighbors Tom, Cree and Skyler Bol
who were able to come over just before dark and see the bird. (Nick
respectfully left it to me to invite people or not into my yard, so he
did not report the sighting himself.) Later that night, while
deciding how much traffic we could handle in the back yard and how
much impact the snow might have on the return of the bird, I sent a
couple of private notices with links to the photos; neither of these
two individuals was able to see the bird, as it was well past dark by
the time I could do this. And then it snowed and snowed and snowed.
I was home Wednesday for lunch for about and hour and again watched in
the evening, and the bird did not show at the feeder; nor did it show
today at lunchtime, in the late afternoon, or in the evening.
Brad Biggerstaff
Fort Collins
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"Colorado Birds" group.
To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com.
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
