Hi all, been awhile since I posted here, too hot in Arizona during the summer and not much time out shooting.
Had this hummingbird in my back yard this week, quality is not good, it was starting to get dark and had to bump up the iso to get anything decent. I am thinking it is a Rufous Hummingbird, just wanted to get it confirmed. Thanks.
Hi John- I see the white line behind eye, a dark, well-defined throat, some rufous on the top and bottom of tail and lower belly, and a longish straight bill.
Although there is more white behind the eye in your bird, the closest I can come in Sibley- considering distribution as well- is a female/immature Rufous Hummingbird.
I'm a hummingbird bander so I have a lot of experience with this. This is either a Rufous or an Allen's, but females and immatures are very difficult to separate in the field. Both are possible in AZ this time of year. Based on the apparent side gorget feathers, this is an immature male. If there were any orange feathers in the mantle, you could ID it as a Rufous, but if you can't see orange feathers in the mantle (which I can't in these pictures), then it just has to go down as Selasphorus sp. (Rufous/Allen's).
Thanks John and Chris, I am going to try and get more pictures, hopefully it will hang around till early next week. Where the feeder sits, it gets no sun until the afternoons and I am at work. This bird really seems to dominate the feeder chasing away any other hummer that comes close to it. There has been at least 5 other hummers here with most being Anna's and posssibly another Rufous/Allens. Thanks again.