Last week Dee and I put up a hummingbird feeder. We don't usually put up hummer feeders in the winter but decided to experiment this year, because many other loval birders have been attracting a range of hummingbirds.
Within a day of the feeder going up we had our first visitor, a Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to get a sharp photo of the bird and so today I sat in our front yard to try again. Sure enough, a hummingbird appeared. However, it wasn't the Ruby-throated that I was expecting. It was an Allen's Hummingbird.
I saw an Allen's last year in another yard in Harris County but this was the first time I've seen one in our yards. It was also a new year bird, #141 for 2012.
Oops! I checked with a local expert birder, Jim Hinson, and he IDed the bird as a Rufous, because the tail isn't pointed enough for an Allen's. So a nice bird but not a new one.
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It's certainly been an interesting winter for hummers. I've had a Rufous for a while now and yesterday I saw a second hummer in the yard, but didn't get a good enough look to verify its identity. Congratulations on your Allen's.
ReplyDeleteTurns out it is a Rufous!
ReplyDelete