>
>
>Actually, Rufous is a very rare breeder in California, I understand, with
>just one or two records from the northern coastal mountains. When I was
>a California birder we looked for Rufous away from the coastal lowlands
>in migration. So if Rufous does not regularly breed in California it
>must peter out somewhere in Oregon. Does its breeding range overlap that
>of Allen's? It sounds as if it doesn't or only rarely. If not, how wide
>is the gap? Does Rufous breed south in Oregon at higher elevations?

There are very few nesting records in California, though the breeding
range is often listed as "through Central California." Part of the
confusion stems the tendency of males to leave their northern breeding
areas early. They show up in N California in late May to early June
apparently heading south. I think a lot of folks assumed that spring+
males= breeding, but they had no nest records and have recently started
adjusting the range maps.
I'm not really sure how clean the break is between ALHU and RUHU in
southern Oregon. Personally, I'm not even sure how reliable the identification
is. All too often folks just kind of assume that if they are in southern Oregon
it must be an Allen's. My attempts to catch Allen's in Coos county
failed. I only caught Rufous. Rufous is listed as common at Crater Lake
National Park, though only one nest has been found.
Stiles says there is no overlap in breeding ranges and dismisses all
talk of hybrids. (or at least did in 1972)


>
>Also, has the role of the tail feather in the sound made at the bottom of
>the dive been demonstrated by high speed photography or by experiments
>involving cutting the tail feathers or is it surmise?
>

It is, at this point, theoretical. Anna's Hummingbird is also believed
to make noises with its tail.
There is work currently underway to establish molt sequences and plumage
variation by age in adult RUHU. They may also be working on the tail
feather question.



--
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* Mike Patterson, Astoria, OR * God abhors a naked singularity
* mpatters at ednet1.osl.or.gov * S.Hawking
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