ML141889651

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

Analysis by Steve Gerow: I would say pretty definite Rufous on this one. It is an immature male, based on the extent of the rufous color in the tail (which is better for ID, because the tail feather shapes are more similar on the immature females--some of those are so similar that even banders with birds in hand have trouble sorting some of them out.) Anyway, the first photo gives a pretty good view of the shape of one of the R-2s (the second set of tail feathers from the center, or the fourth from the outside.) The indentation near the tip, making the feather narrow down abruptly to a narrow tip, is characteristic of Rufous. The other key set of tail feathers are the R-5s, which are the outermost. The R-5s on Allen's noticeably narrower than on Rufous. In comparing your bird to photos in books, the width of the R-5s shown in both photos looks good for immature male Rufous, and too wide for the equivalent tail of immature male Allen's (tail feathers in hummingbirds vary with both age and sex). So, given that both the key sets of tail feathers look better for Rufous, I feel pretty confident in calling this one a Rufous.

Technical information

Model

NIKON D800

Lens

300.0 mm f/2.8

ISO

2500

Focal length

600 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/11.0

Shutter speed

1/1250 sec

Dimensions

801 pixels x 640 pixels

Original file size

427.03 KB