I think I've been seeing them for maybe a week now here in western PA. I posted a picture of a possible one a few days back, but it was hard to tell for sure. It seemed like there were buffy edges to the feathers on the back, but the still photo from my video camera wasn't clear enough to show them very well. Some day I'll get a real camera.......

Anyway, here's another video still. This bird seemed a little tentative, and has a very heavily speckled throat. I don't know if adult females can ever have throats this heavily speckled, but I'm thinking this almost surely is a young male.

He (or she) is posing for you perfectly!

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

Looks like you have a young male there Kristen!

Pam NJ 6B

I've got a couple juvies here as well...I always imagine they're more spunky when they're young.

Zone 7B
North Carolina Piedmont

Look like a young male to me. Yesterday I stepped outside and was standing near the coral honeysuckle and one came right up to me face to face mano mano very similar to the pose you show here and I dont think it was inviting me to dinner.

Steve
Martinsville, In
Heat zone 6
Sunset zone 35

Kristin, definitely a young male. I've never seen an adult female Ruby-throated with such heavy stippling. This would not be the case for some other species, including Black-chinned, but this is a Ruby-throated.

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Nancy L Newfield
Casa Colibrí
Metairie, Louisiana USA
USDA Zone 9

Thanks, Nancy, and everyone else, too! This confirms my suspicions over the last week that I have "babies" flitting about in my yard, coming to both feeders and flowers. I've seen some of the usual behavior--a certain amount of confusion in figuring out how to use certain flowers. So cute! One of them has been investigating the trumpet vines but doesn't seem to realize she has to climb completely inside the huge flower to get at the nectar inside. She just hovers around the outer petals and looks confused.

Love the picture and the feeder. Where did you find it?

Sabrina

Sabrina, I'm sure Kristin will answer you but she makes her own feeders. Kristin, I've been meaning to comment that each one you post a picture of is prettier than the last!! This one is just gorgeous.

When will you have them on Etsy again? Each time I check there are none there.

Carol

Carol R
Tennessee
USDA Hardiness Zone 7
Heat Zone 7

Thanks, Sabrina! Carol is right that I make all my own feeders. They're made from mini glass liquor bottles, brass wire, and polymer clay for the flowers. I make lots of different kinds, all based as closely as possible on real flowers.

Carol, I've been having trouble keeping up with demand on Etsy. I posted 4 in the last week, and 3 have already sold, including this one, which is modeled after a variegated Four O'Clock. If you look under my list of sold items, you can see all of the ones that have been bought over the last year and a half, including the Four O'Clock you're seeing above.

I'm trying to keep up, but it's tough with taking care of my mom and coordinating the preparation for the kitchen renovation. I am so busy my head is spinning. There's only one left on the site right now--Small's Penstemon. I guess it's sort of off beat, so it hasn't yet caught anyone's eye. In general, flowers like the Four O'Clock tend to sell better--I think because they are a more familiar floral shape to most people. Unusual stuff tends to move more slowly, but I really enjoy making some of those.

Making these feeders has really increased my appreciation for the complex shapes and colors that can be seen in flowers. Each one is a little miracle of creation, or evolution, depending on your way of looking at things. I encourage anyone to go out in their garden and look--really LOOK at a flower and all the details. Amazing!