Just had a bright male this morning at Nisqually.

Mike Clarke
Pullman
On Feb 26, 2016 6:30 PM, <earthman1950 at whidbey.com> wrote:

> At risk of losing my birding reputation, I am reporting a female rufous
> hummingbird that was on a feeder outside my living room this afternoon. I'm
> not one who looks for rare sightings, travels to see birds in unusual
> places, or tries to see a species first in an area. I just like watching
> birds. I did not get any photos as it didn't stay on the feeder very long,
> but I will be looking for it tomorrow.
>
> I was sitting watching tv when this bird appeared on the feeder right
> outside the window. It looked small, just as a male rufous had first
> appeared two days ago on the same feeder. After looking at nothing but
> Anna's for the past six months, the slightly smaller size of a rufous is
> readily apparent. I grabbed my binos from the table next to the chair and
> took a look. The bird was on the feeder, mostly facing me. I could clearly
> see red on the flank, a red spot on the throat, and some streaks on the
> sides of the throat. The bird was definitely lighter in color than an
> Anna's on the front. I could not see the back of the bird from that angle.
> I know this is early, especially for a female, but there is nothing else it
> could be but a rufous. I was outside for a couple hours at our place during
> mid day today and looked for rufous hummers during that time, but didn't
> see any. There are plenty of Anna's right now spread out over our acreage
> with 9 feeders, but not noticeably more than in the past month. Our
> Red-flowering Currants in our field are breaking into bloom as well, all 33
> of them, which will hopefully be a beacon to any passers by.
>
> I looked on the internet to see if it might be possible that an immature
> male could look like a female at this time of year, but I could not find
> that information. The sources said that the young males have their adult
> plumage by winter. Is there any chance that this bird was a male that
> hadn't gained its adult plumage yet? Seems unlikely, but perhaps someone
> here would know if that is a possibility.
>
> George Heleker
> earthman1950 at whidbey.com
> Clinton, WA-Whidbey Island
>
>
>
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