Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Summer Hummer ID?


This might be an immature rufous, I see them every year at this time and wonder about the ID. It's hard to get good hummer ID information on the females and young, while easy to find photos and descriptions of the colorful males.
This hummingbird was acting like a male rufous and has some of the right color, but no red orange gorget. He (she, it?) sat on the tip of a dead branch about 30 feet from the flowers and feeder on my deck twisting and turning to watch for other birds. Whenever another hummer would come near the flowers or feeder, this one was quick to chase the other away.
In evening sunlight at 1/160 sec, f/8, 300mm, ISO 200, August 20, 2007.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, how beautiful. Humming birds amaze me. I bet there's a nest nearby.

Con Daily said...

Thanks, Tracy. If it IS a young rufous, no nest nearby. They nest much farther north and I have read that they don't migrate at the same time the parents do, so would be passing through separately.
If it is a broadtail, yes, they nest here, but I have not been fortunate enough to find a nest near my home.
Who knows this bird's name? Not me, I just photograph and leave the difficult ID work to others. Any others our there know? Who this hummer?