Hummingbirds

[CM Prince]

When I lived back East (NC & TN) there was only one hummingbird the Ruby-throated.

Now I live in RGV and travel the southwest states. I find many kinds of hummingbird plus the immature & juvenile.

How does one know which hummingbird it is that you have taken pictures?

I have Sibley Field Guide To Birds (east & west), National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of NA, Peterson Field Guide to Birds,
Texas Birds, Smithsonian Birds of North America, and also a member of Cornell Lab of Ornithology Birds Online.

Is there a better source or book to help me identified the hummingbirds that I take pictures of?

I have hundreds of pictures of hummingbirds that I have no ideal which one it is.

Any help or info will be great help.

Thanks

C M

[Paul Guris]

If you want to dive deeply into identification of hummingbirds (or any other group of birds he's ever covered), it's tough to beat Howell for detail. Here's a very detailed book on North American hummingbirds:

http://www.buteobooks.com/product/11414.html

Jon Dunn, another top U.S. field birder, has done this DVD for another way of learning hummingbirds:

http://www.buteobooks.com/product/10587.html

Female and young hummingbirds can be difficult, even impossible, to identify other than in hand. From what I understand, some even defy ID when in the hand. So don't expect to be able to ID every hummingbird you photograph. Even expert birders have to let some of them go as something like "selashporus species" or even "I have no idea".

[Faraaz Abdool]

The interesting (and frustrating) thing about ID’ing hummingbirds is that their feather colour depends largely on the light falling on it. So the same hummer may look quite different, depending on how he/she moves around these feathers.
I’d just take the photo and brief field notes if necessary and email to our local birding expert. Heh.