ML294977361
יוצר
תאריך
מיקום
- גיל
- לא מוגדר
- זוויג
- לא מוגדר
פרטי השורה
Two birds, one a wing-whirring young male, the other described below is a female, previously thought to be an Allen's, but in-hand measurements indicate Rufous. An interesting bird. Apparently an adult female with a mostly green back/rump and a small patch of orange-red forget feathers; tail is heavily worn, making a specific ID difficult. The shape of the tail feathers was suggestive of an Allen’s, though. I emailed Sheri Williamson these photos and she had this to say: That certainly looks like an adult female Allen's to me, with the extreme plumage wear consistent with the narrow R4-5 and smoothly tapered R2 with no evidence of a "pinched" tip having worn off (it happens, especially in second-year females that retain a little white at the tip of R2). Full description, written the following day: Kevin reported seeing a new Selasphorus for the street (we share most hummingbirds between our two yards, about four houses apart) on 4 January 2021, an adult female with a central throat spot. The following day (today) I saw a bird fitting that general description in my yard, easily recognizable as a new individual for the yard, as all previous Rufous/Allen’s in my yard this winter have been young males. The bird settled in quite quickly and displaced a few other hummingbirds for control of a section of the yard, becoming the dominant bird for a small area. I, and everyone who came to look at the bird, was able to watch it at our leisure in good light at close range. Matt was able to get lots of recordings, and I got tons of photos and video through my scope and with my telephoto lens. Given that it was a new individual for the yard, I focused on getting tail photos to try and confirm the ID, which I do with all Selasphorus that I see in Louisiana, if possible. I was able to get some pretty good photos of the spread tail, and this was the first individual that I felt like was a good candidate for Allen’s. I alerted a few friends of this possibility and a few people came over to look at the bird. That evening I emailed the photos to Sheri Williamson and she responded that it looked to her like an adult female Allen’s (see the email from Sheri above). A typical female-type Selasphorus hummingbird, easily identifiable as a Rufous/Allen’s based on the rich rufous on the upper flanks contrasting with a white band across the chest just below the throat. This rufous is brighter than that shown by female/immature Broad-tailed (a nearby individual for easy comparison) or Calliope. This bird is quite pale for a Rufous/Allen’s, with most of the lower flanks and belly a pale buff approaching white due to many worn feathers in that area. The rufous was a bit brighter on the vent. The flanks also had a few scattered green feathers. The throat was mostly white with faint speckling, and an obvious spot in the center comprised of ~10 iridescent red-orange gorget feathers. The crown and back were green. The bill was solidly black. The tail was the key to the identification, which is what I spent most of my time focused on. R4-5 were extensively rufous at the base, with a black subterminal band and a white tip. R2-3 were rufous on the basal half, bordered distally by a broad green band and then a black tip. The right R1 looked to be mostly green, but was very worn making the color and pattern hard to tell, and the left R1 was missing. I got many photos and video of the fully spread tail as the bird stretched and preened. R2 was narrower than the same feather on the young male Rufous Hummingbirds in my yard and clearly lacked any hint of a notch near the tip of the feather. Likewise, R4 and R5 were distinctly narrower than the same feathers on the young male Rufous Hummingbirds, but had a bit of wear at the tip of the feathers in the section of white coloration. R2 was distinctly less worn than the other tail feathers, so perhaps recently molted in. The call was a sharp ticking sound, a bit higher pitched than that of the nearby Broad-tailed Hummingbird. It also gave the shrill staccato buzzing call when chasing other hummingbirds, as is typical of Rufous/Allen’s Hummingbirds. Even without in-hand measurements of the outer two tail feathers, I am confident of the identification. R2 definitely lacks the notch (or as Sheri put it, the “pinched” tip), and both R4 and R5 are distinctly narrow, more so than would be expected of a Rufous of a similar age and sex.
מידע טכני
- מצלמה או מכשיר הקלטה
- מיקרופון
- עזרים
- גודל קובץ מקורי
- 117.34 MB