[TN-Bird] Rufous Hummingbird in Nashville
- From: chris.sloan@xxxxxxxxxxx
- To: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 12 Aug 2004 13:37:11 +0000
This morning, Portia Macmillan and I kicked off our "winter" hummingbird
banding in grand fashion by banding the previously-reported adult male Rufous
Hummingbird that showed up yesterday at Frank and Bonnie Fekel's home in west
Nashville. It took us less than 90 seconds to trap this feisty little guy.
The bird appeared to be in excellent health. It had zero fat and has not yet
commenced its pre-basic molt. Typically, these early season adult males do not
stay very long, so I expect this guy's visit to be short-lived. I tried to
point him towards my house (only a couple of miles away) when we released him,
but alas he seems smitten with the Fekel's river-side oasis.
Each year, we receive one or two reports of adult male Rufouses in Tennessee in
August and September; after that, the bulk of our western hummer reports do not
surface until mid to late October. In my opinion, immature and female Rufouses
are passing through Tennessee in small numbers beginning in mid-August, but
they are not detected among the hordes of Ruby-throats. The surge in reports
in mid to late October coincides nicely with the departure of said Ruby-throat
hordes. Over the past couple of years, we have begun to accumulate a little
bit of empirical evidence to support that hypothesis, but I strongly urge all
of you to look very carefully at your hummingbirds this time of year - you may
find a surprise waiting for you! (Note: be aware that some Ruby-throats
exhibit buffy flanks, which can initially cause them to appear to be
Rufous-types. When in doubt, check the tail - Rufous-types always have
significant orange in the tail feathers, and Ruby-throats never do.)
regards,
--
Chris Sloan
chris.sloan@xxxxxxxxxxx
Nashville, TN
=================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER=====================
The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with
first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation.
-----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
To post to this mailing list, simply send email to:
tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
-----------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, send email to:
tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society
Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s)
endorse the views or opinions expressed
by the members of this discussion group.
Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN
wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society
web site at http://www.tnbirds.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
========================================================
Other related posts:
