NEHummers Selas 2005.htm

By the end of December, 2005, fourteen sightings of non-Ruby-throated Hummingbirds had been reported in New England, to my knowledge. These are listed in partial chronological order below. The information on these sightings is drawn from maine-birds, RIBirds, NH.bird, massbird, Bird Observer, North American Birds, and private communications. All information presented here is believed to be accurate, but is subject to revision if more detailed reports become available. All photographs are used with permission. Identification to age, sex and species for non-banded birds is necessarily tentative. There is also case number fifteen: a "mystery hummer" which was coming to a feeder in West Tisbury, Martha's Vineyard, until December 7, 2005. The exact species identification remains uncertain, although the weight of opinion now seems to be that it was a Ruby-throated, which would make it the latest Ruby-throated on record for Massachusetts. However, here still remains a possibility that it was a Black-chinned Hummingbird (Archilochus alexandri); for the evidence, see the photos and identification discussion below.

An immature male Calliope Hummingbird (Stellula calliope) was discovered and photographed on Monhegan Island, (Lincoln County) on the morning of October 6. It was feeding on salvia blossoms on the grounds of the Monhegan House inn, and was discovered by Marshall Iliff, who was leading a group from Victor Emmanuel Nature Tours. The bird was a first state record for Maine, but it could not be relocated after that day. (Derek Lovitch, Southcoastal Maine RBA, 10/6/05)

"On the morning of 6 Oct we were walking south from the Island Inn and turned left at the Monhegan House to head up Horn Hill. At about that point, we noticed a Pine Warbler flying overhead and followed it back around the house for good looks. As the Pine Warbler fed in the gutters, a rapid chipping began from a lilac bush adjacent to the Monhegan House. I immediately recognized it as a "western" hummingbird, and suspected that it was a Calliope based on the high pitched call that was unlike Rufous/Allen's (I have Allen's commonly in my yard here in California). I located the bird in the lilac bush and had a short but good look at it before it flew up onto the phone wires for some early morning flycatching. After a decent initial study, I ran back to the Island Inn to get the camera of one of the participants on my tour (Charles Willcox). I returned with his digital camera and after a short while relocated the bird and began taking pictures. The hummingbird alternated its time between feeding from the red Salvia flowers in front of the Monhegan House, flycatching from the wires, and perching in the lilac bushes around the building. During this time I was able to take numerous photos and study the bird in detail.

As far as I know, the bird was not seen thereafter, although I looked for the bird that evening and the next morning. At least 4 birders visited the island 7 October looking for the bird, but to no avail. As the conditions were dense fog during all of 6 and 7 Oct, I expect the hummingbird did not depart the island. More likely, it was eaten by one of the many cats present. While I was fairly confident of the identification from first hearing the bird, and more confident after seeing the proportions, throat pattern, and general coloration of the bird, I was not fully comfortable with the ID of this rarity until I was able to see the tail pattern well. I'd like to thank Louis Bevier and Paul Lehman for immediately pointing out that my description of the bird (which I sent out that night from Monhegan) also described the diagnostic face pattern difference -- a field mark I had heard about but was not well versed in. Had I known about it, I could have been fully confident much sooner!"

The photo below ( by M. Iliff/C.Willcox) shows two of the diagnostic field marks for Calliope Hummingbirds: white lores extending above the bill "lip", and the outer primaries extending beyond the short tail. These features would usually distinguish a Calliope from any of the other likely species, e.g. Rufous, Ruby-throated, or Black-chinned. But in addition, Marshall Iliff's field sketches (not shown here) include other important field marks, and his initial report lists the following:

"Salient field marks included:
1) Small size, though no hummers present for comparison
2) Call like Selasphorus, but higher and zingier
3) Pot-bellied, short-tailed shape
  4) **Tail short and fan-shaped, with white tips on r5,r4,and r3 (largest on r5) and rufous restricted to the very bases of r4,r3,r2,and r1 (most extensive on r4, least extensive on r1, absent from r5).
5) **Central tail feather short and spade-shaped, giving overall tail a notched appearance
6) **Wingtips several millimeters longer than folded tail when at rest
7) Fairly pale buff flanks
  8) Heavily streaked throat with 4-5 small round feathers in central throat that shone with a raspberry color in good light.
9) Relatively unmarked face, but small blackish triangle on lores and white spot behind eye
  10) Fairly pale buffy face blended evenly with buff flanks; no hint of a white collar which is frequent in Rufous/Allen's."

The first record in Massachusetts for a Calliope was in December, 2002, when one was identified on Cape Cod during a Christmas Bird Count.

2. SALEM, NH (August 23-24, 2005)

An adult male "Rufous Hummingbird" was photographed by Steve Mirick in the Tammy St. yard of M. Coskren. [North American Birds 60, 1: 41; New Hampshire Bird Records 24, 3, p. 28.] This bird was also reported to New England Hummers. As of spring 2006, confirmation as Rufous was still pending with the NH Rare Birds Committee, since the photo confirms adult male Selasphorus spp., but does not eliminate Allen's. [NHBR 25, 1, p. 57].

3. PRINCETON, MA (September 19-21, 2005)

D. and J. Choiniere noticed an unfamiliar hummingbird visiting their feeder. Photographs were taken of the bird, and submitted to the Massachusetts Avian Records Committee, which accepted the sighting as that of a "Selasphorus species." [Bird Observer 34 (2): 95]

A Selasphorus-type hummingbird was reported visiting a feeder near Webster Park Lane in Epsom, NH, on October 14 and for a few days previous to that. [Mark Suomala, NH RBA, 10/14/05 ] The homeowner was D. Desmarais. The bird was initially reported as a Rufous Hummingbird in NHBR Vol. 24, No. 3, but was finally accepted as "Selasphorus species" by the New Hampshire Rare Birds Committee on the basis of a photo submitted. [NHBR 25, 1, p. 56].

A Selasphorus-type hummingbird was discovered visiting a feeder and flowers, including pineapple sage, off Middle Road in Byfield, MA (Essex County) on October 14. It was reported by Steve Grinley, Phil Brown, and Cheryl Champi. It was in a private backyard, but excellent photographs were obtained by Phil Brown, and may be seen on his website http://www.nebirdsplus.org/SelasphorusByfield.htm . As both Steve and Phil reported, it was a first year male, and Phil's views of the tail feathers suggested to him that it was more likely to be a Rufous than an Allen's Hummingbird. A banding was planned for this bird, but it left on the 19th before the bander could get there. On the basis of the photographs showing the R5 rectrix to be wide and rounded rather than narrow and pointed, this bird was accepted by the Massachusetts Avian Records Committee as a Rufous Hummingbird rather than an Allen's Hummingbird. [Bird Observer 34(2): 95]

A Selasphorus-type hummingbird was reported to Bird Observer by J. Keskulla. No other information is available on this bird. [BO 34, 2: 128]

A Selasphorus-type hummingbird was observed feeding on salvia flowers on private property in South Kingstown, RI (Rachel Farrell, RI Birds listserve, 11/05/05). No other information is available. This bird could be the same as one of those photographed later in the month in Warwick or Wakefield (see below).

Anthony Hill, whose active season of banding Ruby-throats near South Hadley, MA, is discussed under Fall 2005 News and Notes, banded a hatch-year female Rufous Hummingbird in his yard. The bird was definitely identified on November 8, but had probably been coming to the yard since October 29, and was feeding on Salvia guaranitica until that was hit by frost on 11/10. The bird was banded and conclusively identified on November 12, but came right back to the feeder twenty minutes later. It was seen at that same feeder twice on the morning of November 13, but not seen after that.

In November a female Selasphorus Hummingbird was discovered at a feeder behind a house in Boxford, MA (Essex County), a town which is not far from the Byfield sighting. The homeowners, Kathy and Richard Penna, reported the bird to Simon Perkins at MassAudubon, showing him a videotape of the bird. He then contacted Phil Brown for some additional photographs and hopefully identification. When Phil arrived, the bird was catching bugs as well as using the feeder. Phil's several photographs of the bird are available at http://www.nebirdsplus.org/SelasphorusHummer.htm Phil believes the bird to have been an adult female, probably a Rufous, on the basis of a fairly wide, round R5 tail feather. A banding was also planned for this bird, but again, the bird left before the bander could get there.

This was an adult female Rufous Hummingbird photographed by Geoff Dennis. ( FNRIB, No. 439-440).

This was a Selasphorus spp. , also photographed by Geoff Dennis. May have been present earlier. (FNRIB, No. 439-440)

Another Selasphorus spp. , also photographed at a feeder by Geoff Dennis. (FNRIB, No. 439-440)

13. SIMSBURY, CT , Rufous, AHY female, (November ? - December 1, 2005)

Master Bander Mark Szantyr, and sub-permittee Jayne Amico, who is also a wild bird rehabilitator, kindly provided the following information and photographs of two bandings in CT this season. Please visit http://www.therecoverywing.org to learn about Jayne's wonderful bird rehabilitation clinic in Southington, CT, which took in over 300 birds this year, including 9 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds! She even raised one very late hummer baby and transported him south to give him a better start in migration! If you can, please send a donation to help support this incredibly important non-profit charitable organization.

The AHY or after-hatch-year female Rufous in Simsbury CT was at first thought to be a Ruby-throat, and had been around the yard since early fall the owners believed. The banders left a trap there with the feeder hanging at the end with instructions to move it inside gradually. After becoming accustomed to the trap in this way, the bird went right into it when Mark and Jayne came back a week later on November 13 and banded the bird. As the photos below show, this bird had a central cluster of dark gorget feathers (as many females do) and the rest of her throat was fairly clear. The bird departed on December 1 after being seen until mid-morning that day. Photos by Mark Szantyr.

14. MADISON, CT Rufous, AHY female, (banded on November 26, 2005)

This was another AHY female Rufous, which had also been present for several months. She went into the trap within minutes of it's being set up, and was banded and released. This female had a more heavily marked throat than the Simsbury bird, but like that bird had dark central gorget feathers. She was still present at the time of this writing (December 5, 2005). Photos by Mark Szantyr.

A "mystery hummer" was reported coming to a feeder in West Tisbury until December 7, 2005. A number of birders viewed the bird, and Lanny McDowell and Vern Laux took extensive photos, which have been sent to various experts. The bird was a hatch-year male, either a Black-chinned Hummingbird (Archilochus alexandri), or a very late Ruby-throated. There is one MA record of a Black-chinned hummer, a specimen from Cohasset, November 1979. One might think that the most likely species would be Ruby-throated. If this were the case, this bird would set a record as the latest known sighting of a Ruby-throated in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Breeding Bird Atlas, published in 2003 and based on data from 1974-80, says that the latest records for Ruby-throateds in the state go "even into November." (p. 193). The latest MA dates compiled by New England Hummers over the last three years are October 1 in Tyringham in 2005, October 11 in Leicester in 2004, and October 12 in Lenox in 2003; the latest 2005 New England sighting is October 20 in Coventry, CT.

However, there is evidence that this bird might be a Black-chinned. Most important is the shape of its outer primary, P10, and the relatively short distance between the closed wing-tip and the tip of the tail. The best discussion of these characteristics is in Steve N. G. Howell, Hummingbirds of North America: The Photographic Guide. For example, on p. 129, Figure 4 compares the wing-tip shapes of the two species. In the Ruby-throated , P10 is more tapered, and is narrower than P9. In the Black-chinned, P10 is blunter, is similar in width to P9, and is wider than the Ruby-throated's P10. One really has to see Howell's diagram to understand this, but another good discussion and photo of the wing is by Bill Hilton at http://www.hiltonpond.org/ThisWeek020301.html.

Below on the left are two of Lanny McDowell's 12-06 photos of the "mystery bird;" on the right for comparison is a photo by Phil Brown of a hatch-year male Ruby-throated from his Essex, MA yard. The P10 of the mystery bird does seem to be wider and blunter than that of a Ruby-throated. Also, the wing-tip is closer to the tail-tip than in the Ruby-throated, a feature which assumes more significance since this is an immature male. Against these features, the single available photo of the gorget (not shown) does not clearly show purple on the one dark spot; in fact, some vague reddish glints can be seen, although these may well be an artifact of the light.

Thanks to Phil Brown, Matt Pelikan, and Lanny McDowell for sending reports and opinions on this bird; this account relies heavily on their work, but New England Hummers takes the blame for any inaccuracies.