Identifying
hummingbirds in Las Vegas NV, where we have numerous species, can be a real
challenge. If it is an adult male, no problem, – if you are fortunate enough to
see the flash of color from the gorget.
If it
is a female or an immature male, good luck. Even the guide books state that
female hummingbirds ‘cannot safely be separated from’ other species. Immature
hummingbirds have the same problem too many times. However the immature male
hummer may have enough of the male’s distinctions to make a good guess as to its
identity.
Even
then, I am so thankful for photography. Hummingbirds are so fast and so small
that identifying them, even sitting at the feeder, is a real challenge. It used
to be the only resource the naturalist had was to shoot the bird. John James
Audubon was skilled in taxidermy because he needed to preserve the bird’s carcass
for further study. At one time the only way the occurrence new species for a state would be entered in
the state list was if the person reporting it had the dead bird in hand. I often
wondered how that proved anything; one could shot the bird anywhere and then
claim you did it someplace else. When photography became available photographs
were accepted instead of dead birds.
I find the
best way of getting an idea of the hummer at my feeder is to use my camera,
then study the photograph for clues to the hummingbird’s identification. My bird-field
guides are usually of no help. All show the male, some show the female, but
they are usually in flight. My bird is sitting at the feeder and is an
immature. These pictures do me no good.
 |
| Costa's Hummingbird panting in the heat |
Finally
I look to the behavior of the hummingbird. If it is perfectly happy sitting at
the feeder and doesn’t budge even when I slide the door open, I know it is the
Costa’s. All other hummers that I have encountered are much quicker to fly off
with any disturbance; even just seeing me come close to the glass door will
send them away.
After I
have examined everything I know to look for on my photo, I Google images of the
immature species that I have narrowed it down to. Too often those birds are pictured in
flight, but sometimes I get lucky and find a site that shows them seated at a
feeder. Then I compare that picture with mine.
The
species that I did this with great results was the same one that had the surprise
encounter with the other hummer at my feeder. (August 13, 2013 post)
I
followed through my check list. The tail was definitely longer than the
primaries. This eliminated the Calliope and Costa’s. The bird was definitely
larger than the Costa’s and Black-chinned and a whole lot larger than the
Calliope. This narrowed it down to Anna’s or Broad-tailed. Since I had been
hearing the loud buzz of the wings, just not as consistently as in the spring, I
tended to the Broad-tailed, but since it wasn’t an adult male that identification
was iffy at best.
 |
| What I finally identified as a Broad-tailed Hummingbird |
Then I went
to Google and put in ‘Broad-tailed immature images.’ There were dozens and
dozens of beautiful pictures, mostly not useful to me because the bird was in
flight. Finally I came upon one that was seated at a feeder. I went to the
site, and compared our two photos. The one identified as a Broad-tailed matched
mine. Bingo. I had it.
The
problem is, I tried it again and couldn’t get that picture to come up at all.
And I hadn’t bookmarked the site. Now I know better. Bookmark any interesting
sites or you may never see them again!
No comments:
Post a Comment