Rufous Hummingbird hovering beside a hummingbird feeder. What kind of hummingbird is pictured on the feeder? Photo by Mark Mullins.
A couple of weeks ago Mark Mullins posted (on the nrvbird listserv) a picture and report of a hummingbird visiting a hummingbird feeder at his home in Pulaski County.
He reported it as a young Selasphorus hummingbird, because it is very difficult to figure out whether it's an immature Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus) or Allen's Hummingbird (S. sasin).
This tiny bird was banded on the 24th by hummingbird bander Bruce Peterjohn who drove down from Maryland. He was able to determine that it was a male hatch year Rufous Hummingbird.
Here's another photo of this same hummer, this picture taken by Stan Bentley:
It's really an uncommon event for a Rufous Hummingbird to visit the area. This species ranges as far north as southeastern Alaska during nesting season. A few will migrate into and through the eastern part of the US. And a few will on occasion even overwinter in the region. Thanks Mark for sharing!
Clyde and all,
ReplyDeleteSeveral years ago we had a Rufous show up at our home in October...and it stuck around into January. Bob and Martha Sargent drove up from Georgia to band it. Suddenly one very cold morning, it was gone, and we were concerned. A year later the same bird was caught and banded again in the mountains of NC.