Black-chinned Hummingbird at a feeder in Las Vegas – he kindly sits for his portrait

Taken at 6:38 am 7-7-14, Black-chinned hummer male getting a drink

                Finally! I’ve waited for more than a year to get this picture. Finally the hummingbird cooperated, not just once but twice!

                I was sitting at the window watching the south side feeder early Monday morning, 7-7-14. I had already walked the dogs and fed them breakfast, now it was time for the birds. I saw a hummingbird come to the feeder, sit and drink. I snapped a picture. When I looked at the image I thought perchance it was a Black-chinned hummingbird male, but I wasn’t positive. The image that shows on the back of the camera is really small and the hummer is really small. Judging anything from that monitor is a problem.

                Time passed. More than a half-hour, to be almost exact, a hummer came to the other side of the feeder, sat and drank. Looked around, drank some more. Looked around again, drank some more and then flitted away. While he was posing so nicely I snapped several pictures. This time I knew it was a Black-chinned hummer male, no doubt about it.

Taken at 7:15 am, looking around between drinks.

                Black-chinned hummingbirds are only here in Las Vegas NV in the summer. They come up from Mexico in the spring, stay the summer, hatch out their babies, raise them and then in late summer they head back down to their wintering grounds on the west coast of Mexico.

                Last year I saw the male numerous times, but never sitting at the feeder. I saw him high up in the neighbor’s Italian Cypress trees. From that perch he was busily fly catching. I saw him at the north side feeder when he came to the window to take a look at me. I could see his purple band below the black, but he was off immediately, so no picture possible. I saw him fly catching just feet above the grass at the park, but, of course, there was no chance of getting his photo.

                So 7-7-14 was truly a great day, besides being a great mathematical day (7+7=14). Even though the morning was cloudy, so no glint of light to illuminate his throat, you can still be the purple band in the photo if you look carefully. You can also plainly see the most marked difference between the Black-chinned male and Anna’s and Costa’s. The Black-chinned is the only male in our area whose gorget does not extend down onto his chest. His just wraps itself nicely around his throat, creating a very tidy look. No mutton-chops for him!

Taken a 7:16 am. If you look carefully you can see the purple.

                Even though I’m thrilled to get his picture, I have to admit I’m still disappointed about the ones I didn’t get. I saw a hummer using the ant moat for a bathtub. I’ve never seen a hummer bathe before. He stuck his bill into the water and then rubbed it across his chest. Before I could grab the camera he was off. Watch as I might, I don’t see another bather.

                I saw a hummer go from the west side feeder to the spider plant that spends the summer on my patio. I was on the phone talking and watching, so no camera in hand. I saw him hovering near the spider plant and thought maybe he was checking for the small insects attracted to the greenery. He didn’t move around though, he just hovered. Finally I moved so as to see what he was doing. It turned out he was drinking nectar from the tiny white spider plant flowers. Again, I keep watching for a repetition of this when I have my camera handy. So far, no luck, but I’ll keep watching since I never know what will happen next at my hummingbird feeders here in Las Vegas NV.