Earlier this morning (Sept. 21), Portia Macmillan and I captured and banded a hatching-year male RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD in the Green Hills are of Nashville. This feisty youngster was very vocal and was actively defending the feeder against several Ruby-throats that are also still in the area. The hosts, Bill and Joan Dougherty (pronounced with long o and silent g), indicate that it first arrived on Sept. 15. This is a significant observation, because it is only the second time that an age/sex class of Rufous other than AHY-M has been detected in Tennessee prior to the departure of the last of the Ruby-throats (typically mid-October), despite a number of reports (including two already this year) of adult male Rufous during that period. Just last week, I wrote in an article to be published in the Migrant in December that I attributed this pattern to the fact that adult male Rufous are much more easily detected amongst Ruby-throats than are immatures/females, and today's bird seems to lend support to that hypothesis. Visitors are welcome, but please call in advance. The number is (615) 297-7339. The address is 3417 Amanda Avenue. Chris Sloan 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. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TN-Bird Net Owner: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx (423) 764-3958 =========================================================