Hi Tweets,

For the past couple weeks we've had an unusual hummingbird visiting our Seattle yard, and I'd love to get some thoughts on possible ID. It seems to be a subadult male, overall green, with a grayish chest and a few colorful gorget feathers. The key identifying characteristics that have us thinking it's not the usual Anna's are: 1) it has white behind the eye, but not over it; 2) it has bright white undertail coverts; and 3) the bill has a slight curve to it. We were thinking it might be a black-chinned, but the few gorget feathers it has are definitely red, not purple, when they catch the light. Could it be a ruby-throated far from home? Or is it just an aberrant Anna's? We have a pair of Anna's in the yard that do not like this hummingbird and chase it away whenever they see it, but it continues to frequent the yard. I'm not much of a bird photographer and failed to manage any photos when I staked it out for an hour this afternoon, so no photos. Any help would be much appreciated!

Thanks,
Katie Messick
Wallingford neighborhood, Seattle
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