Someone in southeastern Pennsylvania saw a rufous hummingbird in their garden today. Photos are posted at Gardenweb.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/hummingbird/msg1015182128481.html?2

Zone 5a
East-central Iowa

Looks like an immature male Rufous [or Allen's]. Note the rusty central tail feathers. A female would have green central tail feathers. Odds are that it is a Rufous, but the images don't give sufficient detail to eliminate Allen's and we don't make identifications by odds.

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

Beautiful bird!

Carol
Milford, CT
Zone 6

What a beautiful bird! Not too far from my place.

Suchie

Kristin--- You must very jealous about now to have a possible rufous so near to you.

Nancy--- Would it be even more unusual to have a allens hummer as opposed to a rufous in that area.

Steve
Martinsville, In
Heat zone 6
Sunset zone 35

Steve -

I know your question was for Nancy but it's one I can "sort of" answer myself and figured I'd catch it while I was online.

When it comes to "off the beaten path" hummingbirds, Rufous are far more common than Allen's (perhaps on a 10-to-1 ratio or more), for a couple of reasons.

For starters, the entire population of Rufous Hummingbirds is migratory; their breeding grounds stretch up the Pacific Northwest from the extreme northernmost part of California up into southern Alaska, with a population also in the "finger" part of Idaho and far western Montana. As such, they migrate farther than any other hummingbird species when going to their "primary" wintering grounds in central Mexico, on a somewhat southeasterly course. That may give them more "opportunity" to go astray towards the east.

There are two subspecies of Allen's Hummingbirds. The more northerly race ranges from southern Oregon down into central California, and that group is migratory, also mostly wintering in central Mexico. Their migration route (also southeasterly) takes them PAST the other race of Allen's, which is mostly confined to southern coastal California. So not all Allen's migrate; and those which do have a shorter route than most Rufous, so it takes more "misguidance" (for lack of a better term) for an Allen's to go astray and end up in the east.

However, it does happen. Because female Allen's and Rufous are nearly inseparable in the field, and there were no banders working in the southeast, it was assumed that all the female Selasphorus hummingbirds found in the region in winter were Rufous. However, in 1976 an adult male Allen's was observed and captured in Louisiana, proving that the species could in fact make it here, and after Nancy began banding in 1979, it became apparent that a small percentage of Selasphorus winter hummingbirds were in fact Allen's--perhaps as many as ten percent.

It's hard to extrapolate Louisiana winter numbers onto any other region of the country, because by comparison (my own yard experiences this last year or so to the contrary), wintering Selasphorus are relatively common here. For states with only a handful of records of Selasphorus that percentage may be (and probably is) way off the mark. But any way you slice it, odds are in favor of a winter Selasphorus being a Rufous, absent some indication to the contrary.

Kevin Morgan
Baton Rouge, LA

Kevin, your logic is sound. A couple of additional factors may also be in play. Given the much larger range of Rufous compared to that of Allen's, it might be assumed that the total population of Rufous is considerably larger than that of Allen's. Furthermore, whereas Rufous primarily migrate south along the ridges of the Rockies, Allen's follow a more lowland route west of the mountains. The mountains might possibly be a barrier to eastern vagrancy for Allen's. Unlike Rufous, Allen's are not common in Arizona during the southward migration.

The first Allen's in Louisiana was a male that arrived in October 1975 and stayed into March 1976. Measurements supported its assignment to the non-migratory race as well. Two additional Allen's records were added in short order, leading me to speculate that as many as 1% of the Selasphorus hummingbirds found in Louisiana could be Allen's rather than Rufous. I also wondered how many Broad-taileds might masquerade as 'Rufous' insofar as most birders of the day called any rusty-sided hummer 'Rufous' without considering the other possibilities.

Statistically, Allen's among the Selasphorus banded in Louisiana between the initiation of the project [1979] and July 2009 are roughly 3-5%. Not counting Rufous banded here recently, 2656 have been banded by myself and several other banders. In the same time period, we've tagged 125 Allen's and 80 Broad-tailed. These numbers bespeak more than simple vagrancy. However, they are Louisiana statistics, not Pennsylvania statistics.

As far as I know, there are no Allen's records from Pennsylvania though neighboring New Jersey boasts 3 [or more?]. Scott Weidensaul told me he plans to band this bird very soon as well as another Selasphorus. Already this season, he has banded 3 and another bander scored 1. With continued work, these banders may well find an Allen's or two. It is just a matter of time and numbers. The more that are handled, the more chances there are to find that single needle in a haystack.

An Allen's Hummingbird was banded in Massachusetts last week, too. It is a second record for that state.

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

Kevin and Nancy

Thanks for your very detailed comments to my question. It was what I expected to hear but wanted it verified. Even though an Allens is much more rare than rufous, especially trying to compare possible females it is nearly impossible for the average novice to say well this is what I have. Thanks again.

Steve
Martinsville, In
Heat zone 6
Sunset zone 35

Hello all,

I'm the person who originally posted the pictures on Gardenweb. The Rufous (or Allen's) is still here in my garden. Scott is coming out tomorrow to try to band him. He also just emailed me that they now have two over in Ephrata (just west of me) where he will also be banding. I'll be very interested to see how they catch him, as he is not really using my feeder, just the randomly placed sage that is still blooming.

Is there any difference in "personality" between Allen's and Rufous? The one in my garden is so much more vocal and interactive than my normal shy Ruby-throats. He reminds me more of the Anna's I had in California (although not that interactive; the Anna's were really in-your-face with lots to say).

I'm so happy I was able to snap the pictures. He is really a beautiful bird. I'll update you if Scott is able to band him and get a positive identification.

Bellatrix

PS. I can re-post the pictures here if anyone would like.

Bella trix (Gee where have I seen that name before!)
You are more than welcome to post your pictures here and welcome to the group.


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

Hi Penny - glad to see another familiar person here, too!

Here are the pictures if anyone hasn't been over to the "other" forum.









And here when I left California, I was worried that I would never have another hummingbird!

Bellatrix

Scott came out today and identified my visitor as a juvenile male rufous hummingbird. Scott was able to see a few adult rufous feathers on his back that have molted in to positively identify him. When Scott and his friends first arrive, the hummingbird was very obliging and buzzed around us and at nearby flowers. Unfortunately, he disappeared as soon as the trap was set up and they were unable to catch and band him. The little bugger showed back up five minutes after they had left. Smart little guy!

Bellatrix

Super pictures!!

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Cheers,Bob
USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 6a
Lexington,Ky.

My Rufous hummingbird visitor has left my garden. I saw him last on Thursday, November 5th. The frost wiped out most of my hummingbird plants on Friday and I have not seen him since. Here is one of the last pictures of him sitting on top of my bean trellis. This same day, I watched him chase a goldfinch out of the garden. He was quite a character and I'm thrilled he stopped by.



Bellatrix

That is so cool.That is one of my goals,to attract and identify a few more species,not that i dont like "rubys" but you know how it is,this is a hobbie and we are "addicts".

Congratulations Bella that's just awsome!!! I think we might even be in the same county. And to actually have Scott come out and try to band your bird too can't be beat!!



sarah merion station, Pennsylvania zone 6B