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Sat, Jul 19, 08 at 11:08
| Last fall I seen my first Hummer (a female) in the ten years that I have lived here, she came around for several weeks feeding on the Hosta blooms so this spring I purchased some feeders and put them up about mid May, cleaning and refilling them every 3 days until about mid June with no hits that I knew of so I took them down as I had to have surgery, I put them back up a couple of weeks ago and for the first week I had a small female feeding right away, she looks like the one I seen last year (drab grayish color with a white band around her throat), the second week I seen both the female and the male and the female had to wait until the male was finished feeding now he wont let her feed at all (he has a green back,looks like a black head with a small strip of red on the sides and a white throat) I went to Hummingbird.net to try and identify the species however I couldn't find an exact match, not that it matters as I'm happy to have any species, but can anyone take a guess? Now that he's become territorial I may be able to snap a picture to post later.
Thanks, Rick |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by mbuckmaster 7B/NC (My Page) on Sat, Jul 19, 08 at 12:27
| In Illinois, you likely have ruby-throated hummingbirds, although your description doesn't exactly tally with them. But they're by far the most common hummingbird in the east. Females have greyish white throats with iridescent green backs and tail feather, and males are similar except with the namesake ruby throat band that can also appear black or orange depending upon how the light hits it. There are variations from bird to bird, and eventually you can even identify your regulars by nuances of color markings or even head shape. Check out the links below to see if these hummers look like yours. Male Ruby-Throated Hummingbird |
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- Posted by hosta_house IL 6 (My Page) on Sat, Jul 19, 08 at 12:27
| Well, now that I snapped a few pics I see that the color changes in differennt light and at different distances. So I guess this must be a Ruby Red Throat?
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- Posted by mbuckmaster 7B/NC (My Page) on Sat, Jul 19, 08 at 12:30
| We posted at the exact same minute!...yes, you have ruby throats. Even though we're not as lucky in our species diversity as those in the west, ruby throats are wonderful birds and we have them in profusion here. Keep those feeders fresh and enjoy the show! By the way, great first pics. |
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- Posted by hosta_house IL 6 (My Page) on Sun, Jul 20, 08 at 16:31
| Took some better shots today, however he gave me some dirty looks, made some strange gestures and I haven't seen him the rest of the day.
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- Posted by mbuckmaster 7B/NC (My Page) on Sun, Jul 20, 08 at 22:19
| Ha ha! Great stuff! Definitely dirty looks. |
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| Lots of hummer attitude! :0) Great pics, thanks for posting them!!! |
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