ML61572141

Age and sex

Adult Male - X

Observation details

This was a LARGE hummingbird, appearing in direct comparison to be about twice the size of a female Rufous/Allen’s Hummingbird, and at least 50% larger than the many Anna’s Hummingbirds present at the feeders. Overall it appeared relatively dark, with rather dull, iridescent green upper parts, and primarily grayish under parts. One of the more distinctive field marks was a long, bold white post-ocular stripe that curved downward posteriorly, and separated the iridescent green crown from the gray face. Also distinctive was the iridescent blue gorget, which was restricted to the chin and throat, and was separated from the gray face by a narrow, white moustachial stripe that extended from the gape of the bill to a point below and just posterior to the eye. The tail was relatively large in proportion to the overall size of the bird, and primarily black with broad white tips to the outer two rectrices, and a smaller white spot on R3. The under tail coverts were gray with broad whitish fringes creating a scalloped appearance. I did not note it during my observation, but the photos showed a bronze sheen to the rump consistent with this species. The bill was entirely black, and the feet and irides were dark. I first heard it call when it came to the feeders just before 4:00 PM, and it called a few times on each subsequent visit, until its last visits just prior to 6:30 PM when it was calling almost constantly. I recorded in my notes that it sounded like a rather loud, high-pitched “sweep.” My photographs, supplemented by those of Curtis A. Marantz, revealed the bird had a federally-issued, metal band on its right leg with the following code. I submitted this code to the Bird Banding Lab, which revealed that the hummingbird was banded as a hatch-year male on 14 July 2013 near Portal, AZ, making this a second-year male. The bird was looked for all day the next day, and the following morning, but was not seen.

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS REBEL T3i

Lens

EF400mm f/5.6L USM

ISO

1600

Focal length

400 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/13.0

Shutter speed

1/1250 sec

Dimensions

1386 pixels x 1543 pixels

Original file size

1.23 MB