OUT-OF-RANGE HUMMINGBIRDS REPORTED IN NEW ENGLAND
FALL 2007
Thirteen birds total this year, unless the East Walpole bird, which was not banded, is the same as the North Falmouth bird, which was. Also, see bottom of page for other reports lacking full confirmation.
13. Marshfield, MA HY male Rufous Hummingbird, Nov. 19 and before - January 12, 2008
On Nov. 19, Herbert Koelsch wrote to New England Hummers about a late hummingbird at his feeder with colors of light brown, olive, and orange. The bird had been coming to the feeder for at least a month. After a flurry of email messages, Sue Finnegan received permission to visit the home of Herbert and Janet Koelsch on November 21 to band the bird. The successful banding was attended a number of people, including Wayne Petersen, Sue Maccallum, and John Galluzzo of Mass.Audubon Society, Trevor Lloyd-Evans of Manomet, and others. Wayne Petersen sent along the following wonderful photos:
And this great shot of Master Bander Sue Finnegan at work came from John Galluzzo:
.
Herb Koelsch happened to have a plastic-covered greenhouse in his backyard. He fixed up a feeder for the bird at the entrance to the greenhouse, as in the photo below. He also put a small heater in the greenhouse.
He faithfully fed the bird vitamin-and mineral-enriched Nektar-Plus. The bird adjusted to the food, and went in and out of the greenhouse at will, usually spending the cold nights (4 degrees outside one night) inside perched on a plant, then going out during the day. Mr. Koelsch was in no way confining this bird. It seemed very healthy at first, but then began to show long periods of "torpor". Finally, it left on Jan. 12. We had some long periods of cold and snow this winter, and perhaps the stress of that contributed to the bird's decision to leave.
12. Glastonbury, CT HY female Rufous Dec. 01, 2007
On Dec. 1 Mark Szantyr banded this young female: (Great photo Mark!)
11. Mystic, CT HY male Rufous Mid-October [prob. 10/08, see below]- February 11, 2008
Mark Szantyr banded the hatch-year male Rufous below on November 23. The little fellow arrived in October.
Glenn Williams lives about 1/4 of a mile from the yard where this bird was banded, and was thrilled to be present at the banding. He wrote that "The hatch-year male Rufous that was overwintering in Mystic, CT left on Feb 11, 2008. It was seen in the morning feeding, preening, and looking very healthy before disappearing. The bird ... is presumed to be the same Rufous Hummingbird that visited my house on Oct 8, 2007. My nectar had gone bad and the bird hovered around the feeders twice before disappearing. My neighbors aren't sure of the exact date of the Rufous' arrival in their yard but they say mid-October. Interestingly, the bird returned to my yard for several days in early December, staying overnight at least one night, before returning for good to my neighbor's yard."
The Connecticut Warbler, Vol. 28, No. 3 also reported that this bird
stayed through Feb 11, 2008 (fide Les Case). This COA journal also
reported that the Hartford CT Christmas Bird Count recorded a Rufous Hummingbird
on December 15, 2007 (fide Jay Kaplan).
10. Tolland, CT HY male Selasphorus spp. October 11 - November 10
On Oct. 28, Michael Tenore, of Tolland, CT, contacted New England Hummers to report a " female rufous at feeder in my yard in Tolland Ct on 10/11/07. Have seen her just about everyday and as of 10/28/07 is still here". On Nov. 10, Mark Szantyr visited and was able to take the two photos below, among many others. He says that the bird appears to be a HY male Selasphorus, probably S. rufus, as the outer tail feathers seemed broad, but that banding would be necessary to fully confirm the species.
9. Eastham, MA Adult (AHY) female Rufous Hummingbird. Nov. 16 - Dec. 30 [dates from Bird Observer 36:2]
Close-up photos by Dan Berard of Sue Finnegan banding this bird on Nov. 16
are available at
http://massbird.org/sightings/hotbirds/RUHU-Eastham.htm
Banding stats were
Wing: 44.5 mm, Tail: 26.5 mm, Culmen: 18.6 mm, No grooves visible on beak,
Gorget feathers: orange, approx. 7, Fat: 1, width of r5= 3.4,
r2 emarginated, Mass: 3.4 grams
8. North Falmouth, MA HY female Rufous Hummingbird Nov. 10; Nov 27-Dec 21, 2007
Ian Nisbet first posted on massbird the report of this bird at his feeder on the morning of Nov. 10, about 6:30 am. By the afternoon of that day, he reported that " [Bander] Sue Finnegan caught the hummingbird at my feeder this afternoon and we identified it as a juvenile female Rufous. The width and shape of the second rectrix (R2) seem to eliminate Allen's. The paparazzi blasted away at it and some good photos should be posted soon. " Photos from Sue Finnegan were indeed posted that day at http://massbird.org/sightings/hotbirds/RufousHummingbird-Finnegan.htm By Sunday morning, Nov. 11, however, the bird had left. But then on Nov. 29, it returned, and Ian Nisbet posted to massbird that
"Sue Finnegan caught the Rufous Hummingbird at my feeder this morning and we found it was the same one that she had banded here on 10 November. It had been absent for 17 [16]days before returning on 27 November. I am sure that I would have seen it if it had been here in the interim, because on both visits it came to the feeder every 20-40 minutes. We both thought it looked more rufous than on 10 November -- perhaps molting. It weighed 3.9 grams today and was very fat, so perhaps is preparing to move on. It had pollen on its bill, so has been feeding at flowers as well as the feeder. " As of Dec 7, Ian was still feeding it, adding a liquid multivitamin to the sugar water, and keeping the nectar from freezing. No heat lamps or other shelter were provided. The bird survived many very cold nights (20 degrees) and several snowstorms, and was still there as of Dec. 16, to be recorded on the Buzzards Bay CBC. However, it was last seen on Dec. 21. It apparently left just before a warming trend.
7. East Walpole, MA HY female Selasphorus. October 29 through Nov 9, 2007
The homeowner, who wishes to remain anonymous, sent many photos of this cute little bird to New England Hummers. Here are two:
6. Siasconset, Nantucket, MA Black-chinned Hummingbird Nov 7 - 11, 2007
This bird appears to be a female, probably hatch-year. E. Vern Laux posted the following account on massbird:
"A homeowner reported seeing a hummingbird on the afternoon of Nov. 7 and called island residents Edie Ray and Vernon Laux to notify them. He had seen a hummingbird zip past his flowers some 2 weeks earlier. After speaking with this gentleman he decided to install 2 hummingbird feeders that were stored in his attic. We went in search of the bird and Edie glimpsed it in a garden 3 blocks away. Upon returning to his [the homeowner's]house the hummingbird was seen to visit some flowers, then spotted the feeder and once there fed heartily, if hummingbirds feed heartily. I managed to digiscope some photos and after carefully observing the bird was fairly certain that it looked like a female Black-chinned Hummingbird. I sent a few of the clearest photos to Bob Sargent in LA, Marshall Iliff, Jeremiah Trimble and others. All are unanimous that the bird is a female (probably HY) Black-chinned Hummingbird. The bird returned to the feeder this morning and has been well seen by many island observers. " Edie Ray and others posted that the bird was still there on Nov 11, despite high winds and cold temperatures.
Photos
of this cute little bird are posted at
http://massbird.org/sightings
The identification as Black-chinned appears to be primarily on the basis of the
outer primaries shape. This is the second Black-chinned on the MA islands this
year (see # 4 below). Last year, one was banded on Cape Cod, and there have been
sightings in previous years, e.g. 2006 in Plymouth, MA, which were never fully identified and which could
have been this species.
5. Pittsfield, MA Rufous Hummingbird. Sept 28 through Nov. 14 at 7:30 am (last seen)
Tom Collins reported to New England Hummers on Oct 29 that Sylvia Decker, of Plumb Street in Pittsfield had reported to the Hoffmann Bird Club Hotline that there had been a: "Ruby-throated ...hanging around at feeder for past 5 weeks.". However, Thom Smith and others believed that it might not be a Ruby-throated, and on Sunday November 4 a group of birders, led by Tom Gagnon, was able to see the bird and determine that it was an immature male Selasphorus hummingbird! It had a lot of rufous on the body and tail feathers, and some lower gorget feathers were showing orange. Later that morning, the bird was banded by Anthony Hill, who confirmed that it was indeed a hatch-year male Rufous. Thanks to both birders and bander for getting on this bird quickly to get it identified. It returned to the feeder the next morning after the banding. Below is Scott Surner's wonderful 11/04 photo of this engaging little bird:
4. West Tisbury, MA Black-chinned Hummingbird (A.
alexandri) Oct 23-29, 2007
Lanny McDowell sent these and other photos of a Black-chinned Hummingbird,
which had been coming to his feeder on Martha's Vineyard for four
days as of Oct. 26. It was last seen on Oct. 29. Jeremiah Trimble, of Harvard MCZ, reviewed the photos and agreed that
"This is indeed a young male Black-chinned Hummingbird. Very exciting! "
Congratulations to Lanny for doing an excellent job with documenting it, right
down to the purple gorget feathers. On October 27, this bird was banded by Sue
Finnegan.
3. Westmoreland, NH Rufous Hummingbird from mid-October - Oct. 28, 2007
This adult male Rufous Hummingbird was banded by Anthony Hill on 10/28, and was
still coming to the feeder after that.. [Could this
be the same bird as the one in Biddeford, Maine, in August?]
On Oct. 23, Becky Suomala posted the following on NH Birds: "We just received a
report of a Rufous Hummingbird that has been coming to a feeder in Westmoreland
for the past two weeks and is still there this morning (Oct. 23)." It was coming
to the home of Leona Gordan, who has welcomed birders to visit. Byard Miller got some photographs, which are
available at the following link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9534802@N02/
On Oct. 24,
Cliff Seifer, of Keene, NH, also got some photos, showing the mostly rufous back
of the bird. They are at
http://www.sover.net/~clifdisc/birds/rufous03.JPG
http://www.sover.net/~clifdisc/birds/rufous05.JPG
http://www.sover.net/~clifdisc/birds/rufous01.JPG
On October 25, Julie Waters also got some pictures. There are at
http://juliesmagiclightshow.com/?&keywords=&dte=2007-10-25
2. Mt. Desert, Maine Green Violet-ear, August 18-19, 2007
A WHAT?? A Green Violet-ear, whose home range is Mexico, in Maine???! I almost missed this one, it was so unusual. Possibly the first New England record for Colibri thalassinus. It was first reported on maine-birds by Richard MacDonald, who wrote
The bird was further described as vocal and skittish. It was first noticed on Saturday, 8/18, when the homeowners returned from a trip. It was seen by Richard MacDonald and Ed and Debbie Hawkes on Sunday 8/19, and was last seen at about 5:30 pm that day. On Monday morning, August 20, several other birders, including Bill Sheehan, Denny Abbott, and Peter Vickery, sat for three and a half hours in hopes of seeing the bird, and another group watched for three hours in the afternoon, but the bird did not show. It is therefore very important that we have several photos by Debbie Hawkes; two are shown below. Thanks to Bill Sheehan and Deb Hawkes for much of the information about this bird. And a special thank you to the homeowners, whose quick action ensured that the bird was documented.
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1. Biddeford, Maine Rufous Hummingbird, August 6 - 9, 2007
An adult male Rufous Hummingbird was coming to a feeder in a private yard in Biddeford, ME, for a few days in August. It was reported to be vigorously defending its perch against the several Ruby-throats in the yard! The first two shots below were taken by Lysle Brinker on August 8, through a scope, and the third was taken by Eric Hynes of Maine Audubon on Monday, August 6, in the rain. They all show a typically handsome visitor from the west coast!
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Reports Needing More Confirmation and Documentation:
4. A Selasphorus was reported from Willington, CT, in mid-October fide Chris Elphick, and an unidentified hummingbird in Thompson, CT was last seen on November 24, fide Jayne Amico. These reports from The Connecticut Warbler, Vol 28, No. 2, April 2008.
3. On January 3, 2008, Debbie Routt of Avon, CT reported to New England Hummers
as follows: "We've enjoyed and been helping feed a loner ... thru Thanksgiving,
Christmas and New Years. She fed several times yesterday. But with last night's
freezing temps, she may have been done in... I've replaced the feeder every hour
all day, on the chance she would come out of torpor for some nectar. But we
haven't seen her all day ;-(
Any suggestions?" Debbie and her family had wrapped the feeder in bubble
wrap, and placed it under an outdoor light. However, the bird disappeared, was
last seen, on January 2. Debbie thought it might have been an immature Rufous,
but wasn't completely sure.
2. Pittsfield, MA: report of a Selasphorus spp. Hummingbird 10/14 Hoffman Bird Club Hotline. From Ann Rennie, 10/14/07 : "Today Oct 14 on Clarendon St. in Pittsfield, around 2:30 1 female rufous hummingbird was nectaring on my lady-in-red Salvia and other flowers in my perennial bed."
1. New Harbor, Maine: possible Calliope Hummingbird October 6-7, 2007. On 10/6 Dennis Abbott, via Peter Vickery, reported on maine-birds that a possible Calliope Hummingbird had been seen in New Harbor, feeding on red salvia at the Grosnold Inn, across the street from the ferry. Several photos and an account are available on Derek Lovitch's blog http://outdoors.mainetoday.com/naturewatching/fieldnotes/016893.html The bird was still there on Sunday, 10/7; however, a female/juvenile Ruby-throat was also there, making for possible confusion. Mike Fahay got photos that day, and posted another report. However, Derek Lovitch has since said, on the basis of input from other knowledgeable observers, that his photos are NOT of a Calliope, but rather of an immature female RTHU, and that what he saw between 4 and 5 pm on 10/6 was probably NOT a Calliope.
Note: the first and last sighting dates listed in these reports are only those known to New England Hummers. Different sighting dates may well be reported elsewhere.
page updated 11/17/2008
text © Sharon Stichter 2007, 2008
