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White Hummingbird #2 ?



Last month I was alerted to a white hummingbird coming to a feeder near my
primary banding station at York, South Carolina. Despite attempts over
three days, I was unable to trap it for banding but did see it for about
three seconds on 22 July 1999. A point-and-shoot photo by the woman who
reported the bird showed it was leucistic rather than albino in that the
eyes, beak, and feet were black. Aside from narrow black lines just behind
the lead edge of its wings, it appeared all white in the photo.

On 10 August I received another report of a white hummer, this time from
Kelly Davis, a reporter for the Anderson Independent-Mail in Anderson,
South Carolina. Kelly had been called by Claude Hawkins of rural Anderson
who had spotted a white hummingbird at his feeders on 8 August. Kelly and
photographer Kathleen Flynn visited the man and Kathleen was able to get a
couple of excellent photos on 10 August that Kelly sent to me for
verification. The Anderson bird was, again, leucistic and had narrow black
wing lines that looked very much like those on the bird seen near York.

Since the Anderson bird was coming regularly to feeders, I decided to
attempt to capture it today (12 August). When I arrived at Mr. Hawkins'
house at 6:15 pm, the white bird--accompanied by at least two dozen normal
hummers--quickly hove into view and was practically underfoot as it tried
to get at the feeder inside the pull-string trap I was trying to set up.
The bird buzzed the trap for several minutes, defending it against the
other hummers, and then disappeared just as Kelly and Kathleen arrived.

After about an hour, Kelly and Kathleen left and--of course--the white
hummer appeared within three minutes of their departure. As the bird
entered the trap at 7:45 pm, I pulled the string. Details: massed the bird
(3.4g), examined its beak (lightly etched) and wing and tail feathers and
determined it was a young female  Ruby-throated Hummingbird, measured the
wing chord (44.0mm) and culmen (18.5mm), banded it on the right leg (
number X55644), photographed it, and released it unharmed.

As authorized by the federal Bird Banding Lab, I also color-marked the bird
with GREEN dye on its upper breast in the hope that it will be seen,
identified, and reported by other hummingbird enthusiasts as it makes its
way toward Central America this fall.

Close examination revealed that the Anderson bird indeed had black eyes and
feet; the beak was mostly black but had a hint of grayish marbling on the
lower portion. The wing and body feathers were slightly off-white, while
the portion of the tail that should have been green was a light tan that
contrasted with pure white tail feather tips. The dark shoulder markings
were formed by tiny, dark covert feathers. The top of the head was a
darkish gray that did not appear  to be dirt. The skin was pink, and the
eyes appeared larger than normal because of a narrow ring of dark feathers
around them. There were no noticeable pollen accumulations on the bird,
although many of the normal hummers in the vicinity had white foreheads and
crowns caused by pollen.

An article about the bird, complete with Kathleen's pictures, is due to run
on the front page of the Independent Mail tomorrow (13 August).  Look for
it on the paper's website: http://www.andersonsc.com. I understand the
story will be offered on the AP wire, so it may also show up in your local
paper within the next few days.

According to research by Ellie Womack, the York and Anderson birds are only
the second and third white hummers reported from South Carolina since 1878;
the Anderson bird is only the eighth white Ruby-throated Hummingbird ever
banded.

Thanks to Kelly Davis for alerting me and to Mr. Hawkins for allowing me to
band the bird on his property.


Happy Hummingbird Watching!

BILL

*******

BILL HILTON JR.
"The Piedmont Naturalist"
Hilton Pond
1432 DeVinney Road
York, South Carolina 29745
USA

Consultant and speaker on science education, teacher training, and natural
history

voice: (803) 684-5852
fax: (803) 684-5852 (call first)
e-mail: bhilton@infoave.net

"Never trust a person too lazy to get up for sunrise or too busy to watch
the sunset."