Date: Sun, 30 Nov 2003 11:50:37 EST Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Marshall Iliff Subject: Hummingbird comments MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi all, I have been following this hummingbird fall from California with great interest. I got really interested in the Smithsonian _Archilochus_ hummingbird when it was reported as an active tail-wagger. I was not at all surprised when Dave Czaplak finally got to see the bird and identified it as a Black-chinned. The fact of the matter is that rare western hummingbirds are becoming _expected_ each fall in the Northeast. There have been a number of questions posed about winter hummingbirds. In fall 2000 I wrote a long email on the topic to MDOsprey which can be found in those archives or at the following link http://www.surfbirds.com/Features/winterhbirds.html. The Surfbirds link above is useful because it also has a number of other links deal;ing with winter hummingbirds and hummingbird identification. I recommend anyone interested in these winter hummingbirds to check it out. It has tips on attracting and identifying the birds, a review of the story of winter hummingbirds, and some speculation on what might be going on. Since my fall 2000 posting the hummingbird scene has changed little in the Northeast - late fall and winter humingbirds are continuing to prove to be of rare species. Since I posted that note Virginia has documented Calliope and Black-chinned Hummingbirds, New York and Massachusetts have documented Calliope, New Jersey has had two Allen's Hummingbirds, North Carolina has had a Broad-billed, Georgia has had a Buff-bellied, West Virginia has had Green Violet-Ear, and most amazingly, North Carolina has had a GREEN-BREASTED MANGO, etc. etc. etc. Maryland has yet to add a new hummingbird to its state list, but that could come (literally) any day now. The recent appearance of a second hummingbird at the Smithsonian site makes me want to reiterate that THE NEED FOR DOCUMENTATION IS PARAMOUNT. Rarities like the DC Black-chinned are found because astute observers take the time and effort to photograph and document EVERY late season hummingbird. Without photos (or in-hand examination) the DC Black-chinned may not have been identified for sure. The new bird could be a Rufous, Allen's, Calliope, or Broad-tailed (if it truly has strong rufous on the flanks), or could even be a well-marked Ruby-throated or even another Black-chinned. The descriptions have not been close to detailed enough for me to even guess. It would be really helpful if someone could PHOTOGRAPH the second bird and post the photos for comment. Alternatively, writing a good, DETAILED description might help to arrive an a tenative identification. For example: what COLOR is the spot of color in the throat? If it is reddish, then we know it is not a Black-chinned. If it is reddish and elongated, the bird is probably a Calliope. If it is reddish and the bird calls EXACTLY like the Black-chinned, it is a Ruby-throated. Hummingbird identification in winter requires VERY detailed views of wing shape, the color of individual feathers, assessment of the calls, shape and color of tail feathers, extansion of the wingtips etc. Unless you've spent HOURS at feeders in Arizona studying the subtleties of the hummingbirds there you may not be qualified to identify the winter hummingbird in front of you, but your detailed notes or photos could be the information needed to identify the bird for sure. I encourage DC birders to pay close attention to EVERY hummingbird not conclusively identified by photos or in-hand examination and to continue to study them. Identification of such birds is a team effort. And again I reiterate that PHOTOS are essential to proving almost any winter hummingbird identification. Also note that there are two great new hummingbird book that have come out in the past two years: Sheri Williamson's Field guide in the Peterson series (2001) and Steve Howell's photographic guide from Academic Press (2002). I'll look forward to the next chapter in the winter hummingbirds in Maryland/DC/Virginia this year. Best, Marshall Iliff *********************** Marshall Iliff miliff@aol.com Costa Mesa, CA ************************ ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================