ML615160912

Age and sex

Immature Male - 1

Observation details

Continuing young male hummingbird. I carefully checked the bill (at the front end) and the tail of this bird, and both were confusingly broad. A gorgeous blue-green hummingbird, green overall with various shades of dark blue tones mixed in - at the throat, breast and flanks. Some grayish feathers mixed in on the underparts suggests a young bird. The bill was long, slightly downcurved, and very broad at the base; and pinkish in the broad areas. The tail was broad with a deep notch in the center. In the Palo Verde tree on the sidewalk, and actively feeding in the salvia plants, sometimes within two feet of me. Very vocal. Always calling while moving and occasionally while perched. Everyone seems to be describing its call like a Ruby-crowned kinglet, but it didn't really sound like that to me. The call consisted of dry notes repeated, but the notes are different from a kinglet and repeated at a faster cadence. The bird also sang several times, a soft squeaky jumbly song somewhat like some vocalizations given by young Dark-eyed Juncos, or perhaps Calliope Hummingbirds. I tried to record all the vocalizations, but the traffic was fairly loud (and neighbors wanted to chat and I didn't want to be rude). Thanks to the homeowners who gave me permission to visit. I stayed on the sidewalk and the bird came to within two feet

Technical information

Model

NIKON D5600

ISO

800

Focal length

500 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/5.6

Shutter speed

1/800 sec

Dimensions

3496 pixels x 2332 pixels

Original file size

2.33 MB