We have already shared this hummingbird site that my husband put on youtube but now I have a question. I always thought that these hummingbirds were Rufous' but now I am wondering because they have so much green and so little brown. What do you think?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_lIbAOR3-8



DJoanH - Joan H
Yakima - Central Washington State
Zone 6a

They look to be Ruby-throated hummers to me.

Joan,

The reason you're not seeing much rusty brown on these birds is that they both appear to be female Rufous (at least to my semi-trained eye).

The bird which flies in and joins the other on the feeder is clearly a female Selasphorus, and given where you live, it's unlikely to be either a Broad-tailed or an Allen's. The amount of rusty orange in the tail is a clear indication that it's a Selasphorus and the fact that the two central tail feathers are predominantly green confirms it's a female. Females of most North American hummingbirds (and all of the ones north of southeast Arizona and the Rio Grande Valley fall into this category) are greenish backed, with grayish white underparts, and it can be a real challenge separating some of them, but the clues are often in the tails and gorgets of the birds.

A Ruby-throated (a) wouldn't likely be in central Washington state, although there are a handful of records for the west coast, and (b) wouldn't have that orange in the tail - a female Ruby-throat's tail is predominantly green with a black band and white tips at the ends of the feathers. That would also be the case for a Black-chinned Hummingbird, the west's equivalent of the Ruby-throated.

Anna's is a possibility where you live, but it, too, would lack the rusty we can clearly see in the tail.

Kevin Morgan
Baton Rouge, LA

Kevin -

I never thought about two females because one seems to be dancing for the other. I did however think that they looked too much a like. Thanks for your input. I am sure that you are correct.

DJoanH
Joan - Yakima - Central Washington State
Zone 6a

Joan,

What you're seeing as a dance is actually just a territoriality challenge - the later arrival at the feeder is trying to get the first one to leave. The first bird, however, isn't having it and isn't fighting back (I guess it's some sort of passive-aggressive response), and so the other female just settles in, then leaves.

If either of these was an adult male Rufous, it would have a mostly or entirely rusty brown back, with almost no green visible anywhere.

Kevin Morgan
Baton Rouge, LA