Yesterday (Aug 30), I went to W Lake St in Fort Collins to get some photographs of a Calliope Hummingbird first reported by N Komar that has been around for the last week. There were several Hummers zipping around and feeding off a healthy clump of pinkish orange Agastache flowers. While shooting a perched Calliope, I heard the distinctive wing buzz of a Broad-tail over my left shoulder. I turned to the sound and saw nothing of course, returning to the Calliope I found it was replaced by a different bird. I saw a red throat and assumed that the new bird was a male Broad-tailed because this and the trill that preceded its arrival. I shot 3 pics before it flew away. After reviewing the photos I'm not convinced its a Broad-tailed and think it could be a Ruby-throated instead or maybe a hybrid of. I do not see any rufous anywhere, the wingtips are straight and narrow (eliminates Black-chinned), and bill is straighter and not too curved. I can see the slightest light/white under the chin only after extreme magnification. The white line on a Broad-tailed that starts at the chin goes through the eye and continues around the back edge of the gorget is indistinct to absent. Lastly, it seems slimmer than most Broad-tails that I have seen. I have never seen a Ruby-throated before so I am asking anybody with knowledge to help me identify this puzzler (at least to me).
Photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/122221383@N05/15094808681/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/122221383@N05/14911128169/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/122221383@N05/15097807145/ David Wade Fort Collins, CO -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/85a568d2-293b-4d62-82a7-ab18286394ea%40googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
