For a few weeks a Selasphorus hummingbird had been coming to a feeder in Great Barrington in western MA. Although it was originally thought to be a Rufous, a bander was called in to band it and be sure of the ID. After reviewing the measurements it turned out to be a hatch-year male Allen’s Hummingbird. There sure aren’t many records of Allen’s in MA. The last one was one on the Cape a couple years ago which I missed by a day due to some poor planning on my part. So I was happy to have a second chance to try for this very rare bird in MA.
While en route I got a call from the homeowner who said the bird was seen that morning, coming in every 20 minutes or so. So I was cautiously optimistic when I arrived at 9:20. At about 9:50 I saw it fly in to perch on a nearby shrub, then it fed briefly at the feeder, before flying off as it was chased away by a chickadee. About 10 minutes later it flew back in, drank for quite a while, then perched in view in a nearby shrub for several minutes. This was a strikingly colorful Selasphorus, including a few colorful feathers in the gorget. Wish I could have gotten a picture.
That was my 421st species in New England. The only other place I’ve seen Allen’s Hummingbird is southern CA. Though I have also seen it on Santa Cruz Island which might well be a different species.
No comments:
Post a Comment