Hello Tweets-

After watching and photographing this bird for a few hours this afternoon, I am convinced this is a Costa's. There is no doubt about the stunning purpleness of the gorget and forehead. The gorget stretches into fingers on both side of the throat, creating a white patch on both sides of the face.

The bird was first seen around 1:00 pm on Thursday and continued periodically at my backyard feeders until dusk tonight. If you are interested in seeing this bird, please contact me at one of the following numbers during 'normal' hours.

home: 425-868-4679
cell:425-503-5766

Good Birding

Mike Wile
Redmond WA
425-503-5766
mikewile at attbi.com




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Subject: Hummingbird ID Help- I assume this is an Anna's, but...


Good morning-

We have lived in unincorporated Redmond on Union Hill for the past 5 years.
Every year we dilligently put up our hummingbird feeders in early March,
allowing us to be hosts to many rufous hummingbirds for the summer. Never
have we had anything but rufous, until yesterday.

Yesterday's bird (an adult male) appeared to have the following
characteristics (we had many views, but they were mostly only for a few
seconds:

1) slightly bigger than a male rufous
2) slightly longer tailed than a male rufous
3) color on the forehead, as well as the gorget
4) relatively silent. I didn't hear it make any sounds, unless I just
couldn't distinguish them from the sounds make by the rufous males

OK, Anna's, right? Makes sense, as it's the only one in our range with the
colored forehead.

The only thing that got me was that the throat and forehead are purple. Not
a rosy/purple, but as purple as the Costa's we saw in AZ a few weeks ago.
Now, I haven't studied an Anna's in quite some time, but I remember seeing a
ton of them in Southern California and that they were quite a rosy red. If
someone can tell me that Anna's can/do appear purple, then I am sure this is
an Anna's.

One other thing. The gorget does extend down the sides of the throat quite
a bit more than in the middle. I know Anna's can appear this way, but the
extent of this 'fingering' seems a little extreme.


Any thoughts

Mike Wile