ML229989861
Black-chinned x Costa's Hummingbird (hybrid) Archilochus alexandri x Calypte costae
Contributor
Date
Location
- Age and sex
- Adult Male - 1
- Behaviors
- Flying
- Sounds
- Call; Non-vocal
- Playback
- Not specified
Media notes
Wing whirr and chase calls by an apparent hybrid male Black-chinned Hummingbird × Calypte sp. recorded by Curtis A. Marantz on 27 April 2020 along San Timoteo Creek at the San Timoteo Nature Sanctuary, Redlands, San Bernardino County, California. When recorded at 9:59 am, the bird was chasing one or possibly two other hummingbirds from its favored Blue Elderberry tree on the north side of a riparian corridor dominated by willows and with a scrubby fields and a grassy slope to the north approximately 1.2 kilometers by trail northwest of the entrance gate along Alessandro Road. The bird was in flight and seen only when it flew off, and when it called, it was probably 30 meters away and over the slope above. It was therefore impossible to know which calls were given by which bird; however, the Anna’s Hummingbird-like call at 1s was presumably given by the hybrid whereas the call head just before 4s sounds more like that of a Black-chinned Hummingbird. Recording was made using the low-cut filters on both the MKH-20 and the recorder, but without the attenuators on either the microphone or recorder. It was clear, calm, and probably in the middle to upper 70s. This bird was initially found by Matt Grube on or before 12 April 2020.
Observation details
Given the high quality of my photos of this bird, I did not actually study it quite as carefully as I would have done had I not known that it would have been difficult to see anything that I did not capture better in my photos. This said, I did study the bird with moderate care. My overall impression was that this bird was similar in size and generally in shape to a male Black-chinned Hummingbird. The bill was long, slim, and tubular. I suspect the bill length was at least roughly comparable to the width of head, and I further noted a weak curvature to a subtly decurved bill, much as I would associate with a Black-chinned Hummingbird. The forehead was sloping, and the crown was rounded, on a head that appeared typical in size for a hummingbird, though maybe a little smaller in proportion to the body than that of an Anna’s Hummingbird. Also typical of a hummingbird, this bird had a short and inconspicuous neck, and a plump body that had a hunch-backed appearance with the long wings held downward at the sides of the body exposing the rump and upperside of the tail. The slim wings had rounded tips that did not appear quite as “club-like” as is typical of Black-chinned Hummingbirds, suggesting that the outer webs of the longest primaries tapered to rounded tips. The tail was short and weakly notched, with the pointed tips of the outer few pairs of feathers extending beyond the more rounded tips of the central feathers. My photos show that the outer pair of rectrices were quite narrow and with pointed tips, and that the pairs moving inward were somewhat broader. I thought this bird’s plumage patterns and coloration were generally typical of a male Black-chinned Hummingbird. As far as I could determine, the forehead and crown were the same iridescent shade of dark green to bluish-green as the nape, back, and rump, and I detected no suggestion whatsoever of red or violet colors on the forehead or crown, both of which I saw well. I noted a small, white spot behind the eye, and that the gorget was noticeably demarcated from the portion of face above the line connecting the bill with the eye and continuing back under the eye before curving downward and following the throat to its outer corners. Unlike that of a Black-chinned, this bird’s gorget did flare slightly at the corners to a degree that was probably not unlike that of a male Anna’s Hummingbird, though it may have tapered very slightly more. The gorget did not have the long, narrow projections outward that are typical of a male Costa’s Hummingbird. The iridescent gorget was mostly, if not entirely, violet in color, and a shade when seen in good light that was probably not unlike that of either a male Black-chinned Hummingbird or that of a male Costa’s. Unlike a Black-chinned, however, the violet iridescence extended across most of the throat. I was never certain that the violet iridescence continued upward to the chin, which always appeared blackish to me, but the demarcation appeared to be more one reflecting the way the light hit the feathers rather than the sharp demarcation between iridescent feathers and those that were truly black that is typical of Black-chinned. This bird did have a relatively narrow, white collar across the upper breast just below the gorget and the sides and flanks were a deep, iridescent green when seen in good light, but I was less certain about the color that extended narrowly down the center of the breast and belly beyond its being paler than that which extended broadly across the flanks. The primaries appeared to be blackish. I thought the central rectrices were greenish, but they appeared to be more olive-green or bronzy-green than was the back. The outermost two pairs of rectrices appeared darker and seemingly either sooty or black, but maybe with some brownish evident as well. The bill was entirely black, and the eyes were sufficiently dark as to appear effectively black in the field.
Additional species
Technical information
- Recorder
- Nagra ARES-BB+
- Microphone
- Sennheiser MKH-20
- Accessories
- Roché 30” fiberglass parabola
- Original file size
- 2.82 MB