Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Union County, North Carolina, November 29, 2023

On the afternoon of November 25th a post came across the NC Rare Bird Alert looking for opinions on the ID of a hummingbird described on recent Facebook posts.  The bird was coming to a backyard in Union County, and the homeowner was unsure of the species.  There were multiple comments on the Rare Bird Alert and after a while consensus was pointing towards it being a Broad-tailed Hummingbird – only a second NC state record.  The bird was seen again by the homeowner the morning of the 26th, but by the time access information got out to birders that afternoon, the bird was no longer being seen.

Birders were onsite early the next morning but to no avail.  I was just about to write this one off when a post came across the Rare Bird Alert at 12:21 that afternoon that the hummingbird had just returned.  The bird quickly became a regular visiting both camellias and feeders in the homeowner’s backyard throughout the afternoon of the 27th and all day on the 28th.  So now that the Broad-tailed had become reliable, it was time for a chase. 

I had planned to head out pre-dawn the next morning but it was cold that day, with lows in the mid 20s.  I wondered if the hummingbird made it through the night, and part of me thought that I should wait until it was reported that morning to start to make my drive.  But I was ever the optimist, and decided to head out early anyway.  Hopefully I made the right choice. 

I arrived at Snapdragon Court in Union County at about 9 AM and was the first birder there that day.  Even before I was out of the car the homeowner came out to greet me.  He was happy to share the news that the bird made it through the night and he had seen it several times already that morning.  Looks like I made the right decision after all.

I walked around the side of the house and entered this very nicely landscaped backyard.

I did a quick scan of the feeders and camellias on the deck but didn’t see my target bird.  So I started to scan the nearby deciduous trees and quickly spotted a small bird perched nearby – it was the Broad-tailed Hummingbird.  Just a few seconds later the bird flew into the feeder and gave great views only a few feet away.  Over the next 45 minutes the bird visited the feeding station every few minutes.  The bird appeared to be bigger than a Rufous, with a tail that was longer as well.  All consistent with the Broad-tailed ID, though I’ll leave that up to the wintering hummingbird experts. 

My statebird map for Broad-tailed Hummingbird is inserted below.  The blue-shaded states are those where I’ve seen it in its regular range.  The cross-hatched states are regular states where I’ve yet to see it.  And I’ve seen it in 3 states as a rarity – LA, FL and now NC where it is #324 on my statelist.