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Black-chinned Hummer -- details??



Some of us are a bit puzzled over the lack of any details or
descriptions on the female Black-chinned Hummingbird that Susan Campbell
banded in Hampstead last weekend. Have only she, Chris Eley, and the
home owners -- the Biles family -- seen the bird in question?

I'm not asking for a feather by feather description, but what field
marks are folks using to separate the two? There are several reasons for
asking. 1. If other people around the Carolinas have a female
Archilochus at their feeder, a brief comment on the marks might help
them decide if they have something suspiciously "Black-chinned".  2.
Some of us have seen previous female hummingbirds -- such as at Buxton,
Lake Landing, and elsewhere -- that we feel strongly were, indeed,
Black-chinned (but how do you know for sure without a specimen or a
banding record to measure the length and shape of feathers, etc.?).

As the Biles' feeders have supposedly both a female BCH and a female
Ruby-throated, this would be a great comparison, and a great chance for
folks who have seen the birds to let us know any differences in plumage
-- paler or grayer head on BCH?, slightly longer bill on BCH?, more
tail-pumping on BCH, more rounded outer primary on BCH, etc.? (These are
supposed differences.)

The Lake Landing bird (not with any other hummer for comparison) was
noticeably pale headed, with buff or gray feathering on the head, such
that the white spot behind the eye was not sharply separated from the
dark cheek. The head color was clearly not the green color of the back.
The bill seemed very long and slightly decurved. (RTH bill is slightly
decurved, but not noticeably so). I don't recall the tail pumping, but
the bird was clearly different from all the RTH we see in summer, and
the several female RTH that I saw a few weeks ago (and banded) at the
Cape Pines Motel in Buxton. Those birds were dark headed, greenish on
the crown and forehead, with a very sharply demarkated white spot behind
the eye.

The NC Bird Records Committee, of which I am a member, has been leery
about accepting sight reports of female Archilochus, for good reason, as
nearly all references say that it is extremely difficult to be sure
about the ID. But, we'd like to be educated about comparative notes on
the two Hampstead hummers.

You are probably thinking -- why doesn't he just go down to Hampstead
and look at the birds for himself?  I could -- but some of you
supposedly have already been there. Plus, I'm certain I have seen a
female BCH at Lake Landing, and I believe another at Buxton.

Are folks having to ask Paulette Biles "Which one is the BCH?" Let's
hope not! Lets hope folks can figure out which one is the BCH and which
one is the RTH, without having to ask.

Harry LeGrand



--
Harry E. LeGrand, Jr.
N.C. Natural Heritage Program
Division of Parks and Recreation
1615 MSC
Raleigh, NC 27699-1615

Office: (919) 715-8687
Home: (919) 832-3202
FAX: (919) 715-3085
e-mail: harry.legrand@ncmail.net
http://ils.unc.edu/parkproject/nhp/index.html