ML40455511

Age and sex

Adult Female - X

Observation details

When I got the bird in my binoculars I immediately thought of Broad-billed Hummingbird, noting reddish-orange in the bill mostly on the lower mandible and a distinct whitish post-ocular stripe that stood out above the darker gray auricular spot. The bird hovered in place for about 40 seconds kind of wagging in the air as I have seen them do in Mexico. The tail appeared bluish-green as it flitted in the light. The shape of the tail was squarish when it was fanned out with what seemed like a slight notch to it and faint white tips to the outer rectricies but it was hard to get good looks at the details of the tail from my views. After about 2 minutes at the seep the hummer flew up to the east across the road and perched up on a snag to preen. The bird preened and sat for about 4-6 minutes. As it preened the bird was only 10-15 feet from me and in good light, providing excellent looks. At this time I took note of everything I could see. The bill was clearly orangish but restricted to the lower mandible except at the base of the bill where it was more prominent. The bill was relatively short but not as short as I’ve seen in White-eared. The post-ocular strip was whitish but not incredibly bright as in White-eared, though it did stand out distinctly as it contrasted between the grayish auricular and greenish crown. The crown, nape and back were green. The throat, and belly were gray and had a plain look to them. I did not see any sign of a gorget on the throat. The breast was gray with some green markings. The wings appeared dark with a faint hint of green as the light hit it at different angles. The tail was hard to see for a few minutes, but when the bird had been at the seep I thought I had caught a glimpse of blue so I was trying to get better looks at it. When the bird turned its back to me on the snag and continued to preen I got better views of the back and tail. The back was green with a hint of gold in the sun, the green seemed to fade up near the nape and crown and have more of a green-gray tone to it. The tail appeared green but in different angles of light it clearly showed blue. When the bird fanned out its tail it was clearly blue-green and I got brief looks at the outer tail feathers which showed whitish at the tips. When the bird finished preening it flew off above the road to the North and out of sight. I never heard the bird vocalize. There were no other hummingbirds in the area to directly compare with but Anna’s and Allen’s or even Calliope would have been among the more expected species. The bird was obviously not Allen’s or any other Selasphorus hummer based on the plumage lacking any hint of rufous/cinnamon tones, the bird also didn’t have any characteristic buzz that you expect from Selasphorus species. I ruled out Anna’s based on the face pattern being wrong, Anna’s have an all black bill, and seem to be overall duskier in the undersides. The overall shape of Anna’s with their big-headed and stocky appearance didn’t fit with this bird either. Also the orange in the bill and blueish tail ruled out most species we get in CA. When I got home I consulted my guides and ruled out some of the more expected ‘rarer’ hummers such as Black-chinned, and Costa’s. I grew up in southern CA where Black-chinned, Costa’s, Anna’s, Allen’s Rufous, and Calliope are regularly seen hummers and this bird immediately stood out as different from the ‘regulars’.Others looked the following day but it was not refound. [Accepted by CBRC]

Technical information

Dimensions

326 pixels x 487 pixels

Original file size

137.18 KB