CLOSED: Is this just another Ruby-throated Hummingbird?

I only have horrible pictures of this guy. He's been around the last few days. He has so much rust coloring that I'm just wondering if he's really a ruby-throated hummer.

Here's another bad pic.

On your 2nd pic it could be a female or juvenile Rufous (according to my field guide).

I wondered. We do get Rufous here sometimes. Here's another pic, but it's very similar to the first one. I should try to find the photos that I took the other day. They were terrible too, but showed a rust color on its rump. It also seemed to have a shiny bronze spot on its throat but I didn't get a picture of that.

Yep, looks good for Rufous; Allen's is also a possibility. I've brightened one of the pics, below.

If it sticks around, try to get some more pics, ideally one showing the tail fanned out.

Resin

If i don't get a picture of it, what should I be looking for on the fanned out tail? I don't have either Rufous or Allen's in my bird pic since they are not common in this area.

Thanks!

Shoot, I just looked out the window and two hummers were fighting. I hope my unusual visitor didn't get driven away. Come back here and fan your tail long enough for me to focus and click. Is that too much to ask?

Well, I have just about made myself crazy trying to get a fanned tailed pic of this hummer. She only comes to the feeder when it's shaded. Then she sits way up in the tree in the shade. I only saw her fan her tail once, and of course, I didn't get the shot. I didn't get any details with the naked eye either b/c all I saw was a flash of red. Even though she doesn't come to the feeders often, she's very aggressive chasing away sparrows and warblers. There was another hummer too, so I hope I'm still photographing the right one!

Here's as close as I got.

Look at the rufous on the sides of pictures #2 and #4. That's not a typical Ruby-Throat feature.

Yep, she's either a female Rufous or an Allen's. Still haven't gotten the fanned tail shot to tell which one she is. I think Rufous though b/c she dives in a "J" form.

She's still here this morning. It's suppose to get down to freezing on Saturday and we might even get snow. She'll probably realize she's not in Mexico and leave me. I was hoping she'd still be here when my parents visit. We'll see.

Sticking around or a month, means she's very likely going to stay for the winter now. They can cope with quite severe cold, if the feeder is kept filled - someone (I fear I forget who) posted this pic on this forum a few years ago . . .

Resin

That's so funny and a relief!

I tried to get a pic of her today. I can't get one single good picture of her. I just want one even if I don't get the fanned tail. This was the best from this morning. Maybe when that vine freezes the camera will actually focus on the feeder but then there will be ugly dead vine behind it. It's always somethin'!

Resin do you recall where that photo was taken? I get a kick out of seeing that picture. lol

Dug out the details . . . it was in Lexington, Kentucky, in the 2003-2004 winter - I remembered, it wasn't on this forum (I wasn't on DG in 2004!). It came through a -20°C night, a day when it didn't get above -7°C, several heavy snowfalls, and an ice storm, all with no problem, and finally departed on spring migration on 24 March. They're tough!

Lots more pics of it here: http://home.insightbb.com/~bstaib1/wsb/html/view.cgi-photos.html-.html (click on 'Next 5' at the end of each page to see all of them)

Resin

With those temps, I wonder how they kept the nectar from freezing. I guess it's against the window, so that would keep it warm. I don't think it will be cold enough here to freeze the nectar in the feeders. I think I'll put out fresh warm nectar before dawn just to be sure. She shows up at the feeders when it's still almost dark outside.

Wow! Much tougher than I expected! Thx for the link Resin!

Think they had to take the nectar indoors at night (otherwise it would've been a rock-hard block of ice at -20 . . . that's colder than a household deep freezer!) and put it out again at first light.

Resin

Hummer_girl had one hang around most of the winter one year too. She's a bit south of St. Louis in Jackson, MO. Seemed like she carried her feeder in at dusk and put it out at dawn. Climate very similar to Lexington. (I'm in between the two and a touch further south, but my hummers have all vamoosed by Nov 1) Hummer experts say you can rig a light bulb under the feeder to keep them from freezing, but I've never had the occasion to try it.

I'm already seeing snowflakes. This morning they upped the prediciton from "chance of snow" to "possibility of 3-5 inches!" I just hate it that all my plants are going to die for one night of freezing temps.

You used to be able to wrap christmas lights around plants to keep them warm, but now, they've made lights that don't heat up b/c they're safer. Total bummer for gardeners!

She's still around. It's been tough keeping the feeders unfrozen during this freak artic blast. Still haven't gotten a decent picture. This morning my camera wouldn't focus on anything, so my photo taking days may be over. Here are a couple of shots from this morning b/c I'm now wondering if she is a he.

She has a lot more rufous coloring on the sides of her breast and back. In the beginning, the rufous coloring was only visible when she was flying. Now, it's clearly visible when sitting still.

Lots of rufous feathers on the back too.

A lady in Edmond, OK has had a Rufous at her feeder. She has rigged up a warmer to keep the nectar from freezing and wrapped the bird's nesting place with a heat tape. I haven't heard a report since this last brutal cold front, there she has a video on You Tube from Jan. 2. http://www.youtube.com/user/okiebirdnerd#p/a/u/2/C_1qthz604I

A professional visited her and banded the bird. Out of range birds occur, probably more often than we realize since the chances of observation are slim.

I just took the dogs for a walk and I swear I heard two other hummers. I hope there are feeders at those houses b/c everything that usually blooms in the winter is either dead or not blooming.

I wrapped one feeder in a cloth napkin. That worked. Two others I took in the house at night and then a fourth one didn't freeze at all which was weird b/c it is identical to one that froze solid. I figured that out of the four feeders she would at least be able to feed from one. She goes to all four though. I guess if there were plants blooming, she'd go to different plants.

Good he's surviving . . . and yes, he's a boy; and with that much red on his back, definitely a Rufous Hummer, as Allen's doesn't get that red on its back.

They like to visit several feeders so their location is less predictable, makes it less easy for a predator to get them.

Resin

Whohoo! We finally have a verdict and I can close the thread. One of his feeders just got converted into a warbler feeder after I watched a Pine Warbler try very hard to stick his bill in the little hole. He still has three other feeders, and I saw him drinking from the tiny flowers on the rosemary, so I guess there is still one natural food source left.