Rufous Hummingbird #1
The season got started earlier than normal when I received an email on October 14 from my friend Bruce Glick in Ohio. Bruce is the go-to guy for birding in north-central Ohio and has been the compiler for bird records in that area for many years, and is a great contact for a number of Amish birders in the area (some of whom have hosted Rufous Hummingbirds in years past). So it was fitting that this time one turned up at Bruce's next-door neighbor's feeder! Thanks to the exponential increase in digital cameras, many of these first emails are accompanied by photos. Some show the bird well and some are more difficult. I could tell from this photo that the bird was NOT a Ruby-throat, so was definitely worth a trip down to try and band it!
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| Photo courtesy of Martha Weaver |
Over the past 10 years, I have looked at hundreds of photos of hummingbirds, and have learned that ID from photos is a different set of skills from birding in the field. Most of the time, the bird cannot be identified to species as clear photos of the spread tail are often necessary, but are nearly impossible to obtain. More photos of this bird were sent, allowing me to confirm that it was either a Rufous or Allen's, but I could go no further.
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| Photo courtesy of Martha Weaver |
A second hummingbird was coming in to the feeders and soon photos of that individual were sent to me a couple days later, which were easily determined to be a late lingering Ruby-throated Hummingbird.
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| Photo courtesy of Martha Weaver |
On October 22, 2011, I found my way to the home just east of Millersburg, in Holmes County, Ohio, about 225 miles from my home in southeastern Michigan. This is a fairly typical distance, as there have been very few less than 100 miles from me. It took me 8 days to arrange this visit as I was still conducing songbird banding in Michigan as well as having to finish up some other surveys. Most years, the first report I get of a Rufous/Allen's Hummingbird is in November though many of these birds are actually on-site much earlier in the fall season, making the "first observed" date somewhat of a guess. This bird, however, was first noted by the astute homeowners on October 14.
Unlike most of these birds late in the season, this one made us wait a long time before she went into the trap. The late lingering Ruby-throat was caught, banded, and released within a few minutes of putting the trap up, but the Rufous made us wait a couple hours. Once in-hand, examination of the bill with 10x magnification showed no "corrugations" that hatch-year birds show, so she was an adult.
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| Adult female Rufous Hummingbird. |
This adult female Rufous Hummingbird was actively molting her wing and tail feathers, with the outer 4 primaries old and the inner 5 were new, and 6th was growing in. On the tail, the second (from the center) was about 50% grown in while the 3rd was about 90% grown in. The photo below shows the wing molt. This is not unexpected at this time of year.
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| Adult female Rufous Hummingbird. |
After banding, and all measurements were taken, she was released and spent a few days at Bruce's feeder but eventually returned to the original homeowner's feeder. She was apparently the first Rufous Hummingbird confirmed in Holmes County, Ohio. She stayed until January 2, 2012.
Rufous Hummingbird #2
Another hummingbird that had apparently been coming to a feeder since early October came to my attention late in the month, and on November 2 I drove down to the small town of Homeworth, Columbiana County, Ohio. The photos I had gotten clearly showed an immature male Rufous Hummingbird, as immature male Allen's will never have any rufous on the back.
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| Photo courtesy of Alan Howenstine |
I set up my trap, and within minutes had captured him.
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| Photo courtesy of Alan Howenstine |
He was quickly banded, measured, and weighed.
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| Photo courtesy of Alan Howenstine |
In-hand we can see the details of the throat pattern. Unlike Ruby-throated Hummingbirds where only males have iridescent red throat feathers, all ages and sexes of Rufous Hummingbirds have these "gorget" feathers.
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| Hatch-year male Rufous Hummingbird |
There is much variation in the pattern of these feathers, to the point where its usefulness to age or sex a bird is limited (and over-used by some birders). Immature males seem to be the most likely to completely lack these feathers, or have very few, while females often have a collection of them in the center of the throat. This male shows another pattern, with both a central blotch and around the perimeter. The number of these feathers on females is sometimes touted as a way to age them, but since I've seen adult females with as few as 7 and as many as 28 and hatch-year females with as few as 0 and as many as 25, the overlap is too great to make this useful.
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| Hatch-year male Rufous Hummingbird |
This male's tail was quite worn, though the central tail feathers showed a typical pattern for young males with more than 50% of the base of these feathers being rufous, which is visible beyond the upper tail coverts when perched. Photos of Rufous/Allen's Hummingbirds that show a bird that is green from forehead to tail tip are almost certainly females. In-hand, measuring the wing chord (shoulder to wingtip) is the most reliable way of determining the sex...females are bigger.
The honor of releasing the bird always goes to the homeowner. Sometimes, they will sit on their hand for a few seconds before darting off amid a string of hummingbird expletives!
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| Hatch-year male Rufous Hummingbird |
This hatch-year male Rufous Hummingbird was the first for Columbiana County, Ohio, and stayed on site until November 10, 2011.
Rufous Hummingbird #3
This one allowed me to stay in my home state of Michigan, and was first observed by the homeowner in Prairieville Township, Barry County in mid-October. I got to the home on November 6, meeting Brenda Keith who bands Ruby-throats in southwestern Michigan on a subpermit under my permit; and her husband Rich who is "in training". They had given me a heads up about this bird and wanted to be there when it was banded. This was another cooperative bird, entering the trap only minutes after it was set up.
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| Hatch-year female Rufous Hummingbird |
A very useful and diagnostic character for Rufous Hummingbird is the shape of the second rectrix (r2), which can have notching on the inner vane and emargination on the outer vane, giving a "nipple-tipped" appearance to this feather. In the photo below, the leftmost (outer) tail feather is numbered 5 (r5), so counting toward the center we can see that the r2 on this female has a broad black tip with a tiny white tip, but no emargination or notching.
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| Hatch-year female Rufous Hummingbird |
But that does not mean she is an Allen's! That means the identification of this bird can only be confirmed by measuring the width of the outer tail feather and the central tail feather - r1 (the all green one here). There are subtle differences in shape between Rufous and Allen's, but the measurements are diagnostic though the difference between the two (varying by age and sex) is only a few tenths of a millimeter.
This hatch-year female Rufous Hummingbird was a first for Barry County, Michigan and she stayed until November 13, 2011.
Rufous Hummingbird #4
This one popped up very suddenly! On November 7, a friend of mine in Southgate, Wayne County, Michigan, only 15 miles from where I live, emailed me photos of a hummingbird on November 7 that was clearly a Rufous or Allen's Hummingbird! It had just turned up that day, and I was able to hop in the car and have her banded within 2 hours of the first report. I'll probably only beat this record if I get one in my own yard!
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| Hatch-year female Rufous Hummingbird |
She cooperated nicely and entered the trap within minutes. Her throat pattern was a little unusual for a female of any age, lacking any iridescent red-orange feathers. She also appeared to have some type of infection at the tip of her bill, but it did not seem to be hindering her ability to feed.
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| Hatch-year female Rufous Hummingbird |
Her tail feathers looked to be in good shape, and quite fresh, but the shape of the second rectrix (r2) again did not allow an identification, so it was down to the measurements. Her wing feathers were all old and worn, which is the first time I've had a bird that had not even started wing molt by the time it got to the Great Lakes area; even more odd since it appeared that she had completed the molt of her tail, which is often only partially complted before the end of the year.
And the honor of releasing the bird goes to homeowner Mark Wloch. This hatch-year female Rufous Hummingbird was a first record for Wayne County, Michigan, and she stayed until November 14, 2011.
Rufous Hummingbird #5
Rich and Brenda Keith came through again, with a report of a hummingbird in their home county of Kalamazoo, Michigan. This one was first observed by the homeowners in early October. I drove to the site on November 20 and while setting up the trap, the anxious hummingbird hovered behind my head while I fumbled to get it set. Needless to say, she flew right into the trap, in near-record time. She was another hatch-year female, but this time with diagnostic "notching" on her r2, but the measurements are still he helpful to uphold the identification. She also had 17 iridescent gorget feathers.
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| Hatch-year female Rufous Hummingbird |
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| Hatch-year female Rufous Hummingbird |
This hatch-year Rufous Hummingbird was the second for Kalamazoo County, Michigan. She stayed until December 10, 2011.
Rufous Hummingbird #6
When I'd posted to the Ohio-Birds chat group that I'd banded Columbiana County's first Rufous Hummingbird (see #2 above), I got an email from Bob and Denise Lane who told me that Bob was working on a publication on the birds of the county. So it was amazing when I got an email that he got one at his feeder on November 10! And he was in Damascus, Mahoning County, less than 10 miles from Rufous #2!
Professional (if he's not he should be!) photographer Dane Adams sent me probably the best first photo of one of these hummingbirds I've ever received!
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| Photo courtesy of Dane Adams |
I drove down on November 22, and although there was a light mist falling, the bird was quickly captured. Luckily, there was a nice dry shed that I could work in. Sometimes I band these birds indoors, most often outdoors regardless of the temperatures.
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| Photo courtesy of Bob Lane |
She was a very nice adult female, with her molt completed up to the point where they typically "suspend" it after molting 7-8 inner primaries.
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| After hatch-year female Rufous Hummingbird |
She had about a dozen iridescent gorget feathers on her throat, and her very fresh tail had a slightly "notched" and distinctly "emarginated second rectrix, easily confirming the ID as Rufous.
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| After hatch-year female Rufous Hummingbird |
She was also fatter than most, and weighed 4.23 grams. Most Rufous Hummingbirds that I've banded weigh in the range of 3.4 to 3.7 grams.
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| Photo courtesy of Bob Lane |
This adult female Rufous Hummingbird was probably the first for Mahoning County, Ohio. She stayed on site until January 3, 2012.
Rufous Hummingbird #7
This bird came to my attention courtesy of another of my hummingbird watchers in Ohio, Jim McCormac. This one was first observed by the homeowners on about November 1, 2011 and was near the small town of Peoria, Union County, Ohio. Since this was near Columbus, it presented an opportunity to meet up with my cousin and her husband, whom I hadn't seen in years, and to let them watch a hummingbird being banded. So on December 10 I headed down to band this one.
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| After hatch-year female Rufous Hummingbird |
It was a cold day, unlike most in this very mild season. Nonetheless, I banded the bird outdoors; the bird was probably more comfortable than we were! She was an after hatch-year female, with about a dozen orange-red gorget feathers and a tail with an emarginated and subtly notched second rectrix, but a different shape than Rufous #6 above. It appeared that she had molted her first and second rectrix, but #3 through #5 appeared older and worn, so probably not yet molted. A frequent pattern is for #1, #2, and #5 to be molted and then the molt suspends at this point (just like the primaries suspending at p8 or p9).
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| After hatch-year female Rufous Hummingbird. |
This adult female Rufous Hummingbird may have been the first or second for Union County, Ohio. She was not very typical in that she was last seen at the feeders on the afternoon that she was banded, on December 10, 2011.
Rufous Hummingbird #8
My "main man" in Indiana for getting hummingbird information to me (other than my monitoring the IN-Bird list) is Don Gorney, current president of the Amos Butler Audubon Society. Several considerations, including distance, limits my banding efforts in Indiana to the northern half, so only hummingbirds that show up there are within reach for me. Don sent me photos of a bird that appeared to be a hatch-year male Rufous or Allen's that was first observed by the homeowner in Fort Wayne, Allen County on about November 1. I drove down to the site on December 12 and immediately located the bird vocalizing in a tangle a short distance beyond the fenced yard. He sat there the whole time I set up the trap, but took at least two minutes before deciding to fly into the trap.
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| Hatch-year male Rufous Hummingbird |
Once in hand, it was clear it was a hatch-year male Rufous Hummingbird based on his notched and emarginated second rectrix, and presence of rufous feathers at the base of the neck. He was also in heavy body molt and his first and second primaries were growing in; this is behind schedule compared to most of the Rufous Hummingbirds this season, and in previous years.
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| Hatch-year male Rufous Hummingbird |
It appeared that he had not yet started to molt any of his tail feathers as all but a couple of them appeared very worn. And the homeowner releasing the bird got a little extra "hand time" as he didn't fly right away. I caught the bird blinking in the photo below...it was a warm and sunny day.
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| Hatch-year male Rufous Hummingbird |
This hatch-year male Rufous Hummingbird may be the first or second for Allen County, Indiana. As of today (February 20, 2012), this bird is still on site. This is actually unusual not only because he is in northern Indiana, but the typical pattern for these birds is to move to a secondary wintering site around the winter solstice (~Dec 21), even along the Gulf of Mexico where weather is less of a factor.
Rufous Hummingbird #9
Tim Tolford, a hummingbird bander working SW Ohio, southern Indiana, and adjacent Kentucky forwarded a photo to me taken near Wadsworth in Medina County, Ohio. This bird had been present since about September 15, 2011 and was coming to two window-mounted feeders on a second story of a home. I was up to the challenge and drove down on December 21.
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| Hatch-year female Rufous Hummingbird |
After leaning out the window to retrieve the bird from the trap (and not falling out of the window myself), I determined by bill corrugations and wing length that it was yet another hatch-year female. Unlike the previous individuals this season, this one was showing notching and emargination in its second rectrix, which had apparently been molted and replaced recently along with all its other tail feathers.
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| Hatch-year female Rufous Hummingbird |
The photo above shows more of the technique required to photograph the spread tail of these birds. That doesn't mean it's easy! It takes a lot of practice to make sure it is done safely, and also without dropping the bird before the photo is taken.
This hatch-year female Rufous Hummingbird was probably the third (at least) for Medina County, Ohio. A few years ago, I banded two Rufous that were about 3 miles apart from each other in Wadsworth. This year's Rufous was only about 5 miles from where those two were banded. Surely a Rufous Hummingbird hotspot for Ohio! She stayed on site until January 12, 2012.
Rufous Hummingbird #10
I was pretty sure that my season had come to an end, when I got an email from a friend, Caleb Putnam, about a possible Rufous Hummingbird in Lowell, Kent County, Michigan. The homeowner first saw the bird in late September, and on December 29 I drove up there to band it. This was yet another Rufous Hummingbird that only took about 10 minutes to go into the trap. Once in-hand, it was determined to be another hatch-year female.
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| Hatch-year female Rufous Hummingbird |
She only had two iridescent gorget feathers, and showed no signs of body molt. Her outer three primaries (p8-p10) were old and worn while the rest were black and recently replaced, so she had apparently suspended her molt at p8. Her tail was another one of those with at most subtle notching on her second rectrix, so it was up to the measurements to confirm the ID.
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| Hatch-year female Rufous Hummingbird |
This hatch-year female Rufous Hummingbird was a "record" bird in a couple different ways. She was the first for Kent County, Michigan, and was my 10th Rufous Hummingbird for the season; I had only had a maximum of 9 twice before way back in 2003 and 2004. It was also the 4th banded in Michigan; the previous record was 3 plus a 5th bird that got away unbanded back in November (but was a well-photographed hatch-year male Rufous, the first for Washenaw County) made for a record season in Michigan. She stayed on site until January 11, 2012 (I believe).
Rufous Hummingbird #11
The latest I'd ever banded a Rufous Hummingbird before this season was December 29, so I was certain the season was ended. But then I got an email from a homeowner in Canfield, Mahoning County, Ohio indicating that a bird she'd seen only on November 28 and December 7-8, 2011 had returned after more than three weeks absence! A local bird store proprietor, Jeff Harvey, had gotten phone calls from two other homeowners in the neighborhood that they too had a hummingbird. One was about 3/4 mile away and the other we couldn't follow up on. So, with trepidation that I might not be able to catch this one without knowing where the other feeder might be, I made the 220 mile drive to Canfield. This was only about 10 miles east of two other Rufous I banded this fall; it sure would have been handy to band them all on the same day!
In additon to visiting possibly two other feeders in the area, the homeowner indicated that she was only seen once or twice in the mornings, and sometimes not at all in the afternoons. When I arrived on December 30, the bird had just been at the feeders. I quickly set up the trap in hopes that she'd make a second visit. Amazingly, the wait time on this bird was....3 minutes! Once in hand I determined she was, yes, another hatch-year female Rufous.
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| Hatch-year female Rufous Hummingbird |
Notice in the photo above that the green of the upper tail coverts touches the green on the central tail feathers, with rufous visible on the outer tail feathers only with the tail slightly spread. This green front-to-back is what I look for in photos to sex a Rufous/Allen's Hummingbird as female.
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| Hatch-year female Rufous Hummingbird |
This hatch-year female had only 7 iridescent gorget feathers, but did show modest notching on her second rectrix.
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| Hatch-year female Rufous Hummingbird |
The homeowner was nervous about the priviledge of releasing her, and named her Bella.
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| Hatch-year female Rufous Hummingbird |
This hatch-year female Rufous Hummingbird is probably the second for Mahoning County, and was still on site as of February 20, 2012.
Rufous Hummingbird #12
The best is saved for last. My record for Rufous Hummingbirds was in the bag, and I really did not expect to be traveling in January for yet another hummingbird. But on December 29, 2011 a local naturalist (Steve McKee) emailed me about a possible Rufous Hummingbird in the city of Mansfield, Richland County, Ohio. I didn't remember right away that I'd banded a Rufous Hummingbird in Mansfield back in 2007. On January 4, 2012, I went to Mansfield and got the trap set up. After about 15 minutes, the bird was captured.
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| After hatch-year female Rufous Hummingbird |
Once inside the home, I instinctively spread the bird's tail to see if it had a notched second rectrix. She did, so adult female Rufous.
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| After hatch-year female Rufous Hummingbird |
So, on with the banding process. But wait a minute. She's already banded! Recapturing a banded bird is the reason we all do this. I read the band; H-61079. It sounded familiar, and I checked my "cheat sheet" that told me that the bander was indeed ME. Maybe this was the 2007 Rufous that I'd banded in Mansfield returning but to a different home? But no, I banded this bird in 2009. I'd have to check further when I got home.
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| After hatch-year female Rufous Hummingbird |
It turns out that I banded this bird on October 20, 2009 as an after hatch-year female near Loudonville, Ashland County. This is about 15 miles ESE of Mansfield. But wait,there's more! On December 18, 2010, this same bird was recaptured by Fred Bassett in Pensacola, Florida! She's surely put on more than 10,000 miles since I banded her in 2009. She stayed on site until January 14, 2012.
It was a wild year for banding Rufous Hummingbirds, and I enjoyed it immensely despite spending many hours in the car driving to and from these sites (more than 3500 miles). I'd do it again in a second!
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