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Re: Hummingbird ID opinions requested



Carolinabirders,

I just added the observers' description and a summary of opinions on the 
hummingbird photos at: http://www.duke.edu/~cwcook/winhum.html
Thanks for your help - so far I've received 30 opinions from the 460 people 
that visited the page:

Calliope: 14.5 
Rufous, Allen's, or Rufous/Allen's: 14 
Ruby-throated: 1 
Costa's: 0.5

I wanted to see if a consensus could be reached from the physical evidence 
(photos), but it appears not!  This is apparently a good illustration of how 
tricky identification of female/immature hummingbirds can be.

Opinions based on the photos are posted at 
http://www.duke.edu/~cwcook/winhumo.html with my own take at the end, though 
I am a little biased since I actually saw the bird.  One thing that misled a 
lot of people is the apparent patch of gorget feathers in the two lower left 
photos.  This is an artifact of feather arrangement.  Sorry, I didn't 
realize these two photos would be so misleading when I selected them.  This 
bird had no colored gorget feathers, just a pattern of pale brown spotting.

Please let me know if you would like to add a new opinion or revise your old 
opinion based on the new information.

Thanks,

Will

-- 
Charles W. "Will" Cook                  w 919-660-7423
http://www.duke.edu/~cwcook            cwcook@duke.edu
Biology Dept., Duke Univ., Box 90340, Durham, NC 27708