Broad-billed Hummingbird, San Francisco, CA, March 2018

My March business trip to the San Francisco Bay Area was around the corner, and I was looking forward to trying to do some early morning or late evening birding while in the area.  But as the trip neared my schedule got busier and busier, and most of my free time, even before or after the 9-to-5 hours, turned out to be limited.  I checked out eBird Needs Alerts anyway, and luckily there was 1 that I might be able to squeeze in.  And it was a really nice rarity at that - a Broad-billed Hummingbird in San Francisco.  This was a first county record, coming to a backyard feeder in downtown San Francisco.  The bird had been there for a while, and was seen daily.  But one recent post mentioned that Broad-bills in CA normally leave their wintering locations by mid-March, so that birder suggested anyone who hadn’t seen it yet shouldn’t wait too much longer.  So I planned to give it a try the first morning I was in the area, though time would be really tight so I could only wait maybe an hour for the Hummingbird to visit the feeder. 

The next morning it was a bit of a daunting task to maneuver around the San Francisco streets in the pre-dawn darkness, but I was able to find the correct neighborhood, and even find a place to park near the location of the feeder.  Directions on a few posts said to stand on 36th Street, and look to the 3rd fenced-in backyard to the east on Geary Boulevard.  I arrived at the viewing spot on 36th Street about 20 minutes before dawn, and in the dim light I looked to the east and could see the small back yards of the Geary Blvd. houses.  Several birders included photos in their eBird reports that showed the feeder attached to a tall tree in that 3rd yard, but others mentioned it was tough to even see the feeder.  So although it was still too dark to hope to see the Hummingbird, I figured I would use this time to locate the feeder and settle in to hopefully wait for the bird to appear.   

With a little searching in the dim light I found the right yard, then the tree that looked like the one shown in the photos.  And then just a couple seconds later I located the feeder.  And then to my surprise I thought I could see a Hummingbird on the feeder.  I looked closer and sure enough it was a Hummingbird, but which species was it?  Earlier lists had included Anna’s, Allen’s, and Rufous at the feeder, so I needed to try to make an ID in the limited light.  With a little concentration I could see that the bird was bluish-green below, and had a reddish base to its bill.  It was indeed the Broad-billed Hummingbird.  I continued to watch it as it fed, and then a minute later it flew off.  Boy was I lucky! 

Here is a photo of the small back yards and the location of the feeder.  Needless to say the Hummingbird is not visible.

I thought about staying to wait for the bird to return and get better views in brighter light after sunrise, but work was calling, and I decided to call it quits and head into the office.  My success made my commute through San Francisco rush hour traffic bearable – well almost.  If only all my searches were as successful as this one.  Earlier in the week my travels took me to Seattle where a brief early morning search for a flock of Common Redpolls was unsuccessful – my visit happened to be on the first day these birds were not seen after 2 weeks of daily observations. 

Broad-billed Hummingbird was statebird #391 for me in CA.  And I was surprised to see that CA was my 7th state for this species – of course in AZ where it is regular, and now 6 other states as a rarity (see my statebird map below).