Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Juvenile Rufous Hummingbird in the Yard


This morning, we saw two hummingbirds visiting our feeder that look different than the usual Ruby-throated and Black-chinned species. I watched these two birds feed for several hours as they showed up alternately every 15 minutes.

This first bird has a solid green back, rufous flanks, and chin stripes. It also has several red-orange gorget feathers. I think that this is a female or juvenile Rufous Hummingbird. The thing that has me puzzled is that it has the beginnings of dark throat feathers but has not yet developed brown in the tail.

Canon 7DII, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS - 330mm, f/10, 1/500 sec, ISO-800, Flash

Canon 7DII, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS - 200mm, f/10, 1/500 sec, ISO-800, Flash

Canon 7DII, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS - 330mm, f/8, 1/250 sec, ISO-800, Flash

Canon 7DII, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS - 260mm, f/10, 1/500 sec, ISO-800, Flash
The second bird has a very pale wash of light brown on the flanks but not nearly as pronounced. It has several red gorget feathers. I am not sure if this another Rufous or a sub-adult Ruby-throated which did not get around to migrating.

Canon 7DII, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS - 220mm, f/10, 1/500 sec, ISO-800, Flash
Canon 7DII, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS - 330mm, f/10, 1/500 sec, ISO-800, Flash

Update 2014-11-26 - Danielle got a video which, though blurry, caught the tail feathers fanned out. These have rufous bases with white-tipped, black ends. The outer feathers don't look very narrow. This further confirms this as a rufous.

Update 2015-01-31 - What may be still the first of the hummingbirds above is still visiting the feeder. If it is, its plumage has not changed significantly.





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