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Re: Interesting hummer



BOB . . .

It's not uncommon for female Ruby-throated Hummingbirds to have some 
buffy or cinnamon color on their flanks; this is, of course, much 
more pronounced in Rufous Hummingbirds.

Let us know if you bird hangs around for a while or if you get a good 
view of a tail fan. (Often, however, the rusty color at the base of a 
Rufous Hummigbird's tail is well-nigh invisible unless the bird is in 
the hand.)


Cheers,

BILL

*******


>  The butterfly bushes in my yard continue to attract a few 
>hummingbirds.  Yesterday and again this morning I saw a "normal" 
>female/immature ruby-throat: green on top, white underneath, dark 
>tail with white tips.  However, this afternoon while I was studying 
>small skippers, a different hummer appeared.  I got good looks at it 
>through binoculars while it visited the butterfly bushes.  It was 
>green on top, white underneath, with a short dark tail with white 
>tips (the bird never fanned its tail while I was looking).  However, 
>along the flanks under the wings it was a light rusty color. 
>Otherwise it looked like a standard ruby-throat.  I watched to see 
>if it would return, but if it did, I missed it.  I haven't had a 
>hummer hanging around the yard for two weeks.
>
>Bob
>--
>--------------------------------------------------
>Robert C. Perkins, Ph.D.
>Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
>Methodist College, Fayetteville, NC 28311
>910-630-7037     rperkins@methodist.edu

-- 

BILL HILTON JR., "The Piedmont Naturalist"
Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History
1432 DeVinney Road, York, South Carolina 29745 USA
hilton@hiltonpond.org, (803) 684-5852, eFax: (503) 218-0845

Please visit our web sites at http://www.hiltonpond.org and
http://www.rubythroat.org

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