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).

Calliope and Broad-Billed Hummingbirds, Houston, Texas, November 2012

In preparing for a business trip I typically check the local listserves to see if any rarities are being seen nearby.  In advance of my November trip to Houston I noticed that both a Calliope and a Broad-Billed Hummingbird were being seen in Russ Pitman Park right in Houston – both would be new for my TX list.  After a little internet searching I found that the park was only 10 minutes from my hotel, and was quite tiny.  And with good local information from the listserve it seemed like a no-brainer to give it a try before work one morning.

I arrived at the park at 6:40 AM – about 20 minutes before dawn but definitely bright enough to see if any hummingbirds were around.  A cold front had come through the day before and it was in the mid 40’s which was quite cold for Houston.  I only had until about 8:00 before heading off to work, so I was a bit worried that the hummers wouldn’t start their visits in the cold morning temperatures before I had to leave.  Nonetheless, I situated myself close to a bed of shrimp plants near the entrance of the park where the Calliope was apparently most reliable, and waited.  As the time passed I picked up a few good birds like a flyover Pine Siskin, a calling Bobwhite, a Wilson’s Warbler, and a calling Monk Parakeet, but no hummingbirds.  Finally at 7:40 I heard sharp chip notes of a hummingbird coming from a short distance away.  [Many of the wintering hummers I’ve seen have been quite vocal.]  It took me a couple minutes to finally find the Calliope perched in a small tree just a few feet from the flowers - a stunning adult male!  Over the next several minutes it visited the flowers a couple times, always returning to the same perch.  Since it was being so cooperative, I spent a couple minutes trying to take some photos of the bird holding my iPhone up against my binocs.  The best of my miserable pictures is pasted in below – probably would have turned out better if it had perched in the sun. 

A short time later another birder arrived and I was able to get him on the Calliope.  He mentioned that the Broad-billed was most reliable at other patches of shrimp plants in the tiny park, and he gave me directions to those spots.  I decided to head to one patch that was likely in the warm early morning sun, and as soon as I arrived I heard an unfamiliar double-note chattering sound – it was the Broad-Billed!  The bird looked gigantic compared to the tiny Calliope.  It was a young male bird – grayish below with a little blue color in the throat, broad white eye stripe, and only restricted red at the base of the bill.  A long way from adult plumage, but still an attractive bird.  I watched it feed there for a couple minutes, at which point it flew low directly over my head in the general direction of a second patch of shrimp plants.  So I walked over to that garden and I instantly found the bird chipping away there too.  I looked at my watch – it was exactly 8:00.  Perfect timing to add 2 statebirds to my TX list and still be at my first work meeting on time.

My statebird maps for these hummingbirds are starting to show the pattern of vagrancy that these and most of the other hummers exhibit.  I’ve seen Calliope in 10 states – 7 are in its normal range in the west and now 3 are in Gulf Coast or Eastern states.   

And I now have Broad-billed in 6 states –only 1 is in its normal range (AZ).

That gives me 12 species of hummingbirds in Texas – 1 more than for my Arizona list.  And my total Texas statelist is 412 which is my largest single state total.  However, a better way to rank the statelists is to compare them by their relative percentages of the ABA reporting thresholds.  In that regard, I have 8 statelists that are a higher percentage of the ABA reportable limits, led by NH at 175% of reportable compared to TX at 131% of reportable.