[mou] Nancy Newfield's hummingbird comments

[Laura Erickson]

Nancy Newfield, one of the foremost authorities on hummingbird 
identification, writes:

The bird is probably an immature male, based on the amount of rusty 
coloring around the face.  A young male should also have a rusty colored 
rump and the central rectrices will predominately be rusty as well.  The 
rump of a female should be green 99.9% of the time.  Her central rectrices 
will be predominately green with a bit of rufous near the base.  Most adult 
females have a central spot of iridescent red in the center of the 
throat.  This can be more than half the throat or just a few red 
feathers.  Immature females never have as much stippling and iridescence as 
this bird has.  Details of color of the back, rump, and central rectrices 
are not viewable in the images, so your notes might be helpful here.

It is impossible to determine whether the bird is a Rufous Hummingbird or 
an Allen's Hummingbird from the available evidence.  The rusty undertail 
coverts clearly eliminate Broad-tailed Hummingbird from consideration.

Rustiness around the face is often noted as a clue that an immature male 
Selasphorus may be an Allen's, and the rustiness of the flanks and shading 
of green on the back seem deeper on Allen's, but true identification should 
rely on more concrete criteria.  My experience with Allen's is considerably 
less than my experience with Rufous, so I would not hazard a guess with the 
images available.

If the bird has rusty colored feathers on its upper back, it is clearly a 
Rufous.  If the back is entirely green, Allen's is indeed a 
possibility.  Images of the rectrices are too blurry to permit detailed 
analysis, but the individual feathers appear to be a bit wider and longer 
than usual for Allen's.  To me, the tail of an Allen's looks as if it were 
sharpened in a pencil sharpener.

As for this bird's timing of feeding, I note that wintering hummers here in 
Louisiana often close up shop by mid afternoon.

Hope this helps.  Though it is not particularly satisfying, unless all 
identifying details can be documented, it is advisable to call it by the 
genus Selasphorus rufus/sasin.

It's still dark outside.  If the bird turns up today, I will post as soon 
as I notice it.

Laura Erickson
Duluth, MN

NOTE address change: bluejay@lauraerickson.com

Producer, "For the Birds" radio program
<http://www.lauraerickson.com/>

There is symbolic as well as actual beauty in the migration of 
birds.  There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of 
nature--the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after the winter.

                                 --Rachel Carson