ML618654032

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

Continuing adult male, discovered by Rhonda H (5/5). Thanks, Rhonda, for this little cutie!! :)) Special thanks to Tom W for alerting via ListServ. Thanks, Tom!! :)) Compact little hummingbird, smaller than the nearby Costa’s Hummingbird; magenta-purple gorget (seen when in the sun) that elongates out like little tendrils, that flares out from the sides; greenish back and head with dark wings; whitish underparts with buffy sides, unlike the rufous/orange of a Rufous/Allen’s; white at the base of its bill; bold white spot behind the eye; lacks a helmet like the Anna’s and the Costa’s. 1335 to 1353 – nice spot by Martin in his designated section (Sherry, Martin, and I divided into sections at the stakeout), seen flying into an Oak (33.7967097, -117.7414900), perching in the mid to bottom canopy of the SE portion of the Oak. It would periodically drop down behind into Yerba Santa (the sage-y looking plant with purple flowers), but was always obstructed and was never seen nor captured foraging; only observed returning onto its perch in the leafless twigs of the Oak. On a couple occasions, I did notice it fly straight up, fairly high above the Oak, and plummet down behind the tree. I would assume it was a territorial display vs a courtship display since its ascent was vertically straight up, and I did not notice any vocalizations. Possibly a second male perched in the lower canopy of the same tree on the NE section, which was harder to get a good viewpoint. However, I only saw 1 at a time, and I never saw them both simultaneously. ** Disclaimer – I went back from approx. 1400-1500, and again from 1840 to about 1740 (this time was for night birding) in efforts to help relocate it/them, but was not seen on either perch, nor was it detected in the area. This could be due to it/them being overthrown by the 2 Rufous/Allen's that eventually dominated the Oak tree **

Technical information

Model

DSC-RX10M4

ISO

100

Flash

Flash did not fire

Dimensions

1201 pixels x 1128 pixels

Original file size

275.12 KB