I agree Black-chinned. Notice the last two shots here with a change in position to the light the purple dissapears and the chin looks all black.
Irony I have been sorting through hundreds of images from the Smoky Bar Store that I took yesterday. There was a Broad-tailed Reported there on Saturday on E bird but no photos. I have not found one in any of mine. Pouring through all about birds etc. and looking at my shots and Rufous and Black-chinned of all ages and sexes are all that I have found so far but I am not a hummer expert.
On Aug 2, 2022, at 10:55 PM, Robert Kiernan <photobirder@…> wrote:
Black chin hummer silver city today what say yee on I.D.
Ken Miracle chukar28@… 208-570-2780 “Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God” 2COR 3:5
Have you seen hummingbirds fly-catching? It’s a part of their lifestyle when, at least, feeding high protein foods to their young. I saw rufous catching flying insects on the Lochsa River (think Nez Perce and Lewis/Clark) three years ago near Whitehouse Campground.
I have a photo of a hummingbird sitting on a branch and flying straight up over it’s head to catch a gnat. I watched it do this two or three times before I caught on to what he was doing. Had my camera ready for the next one.
Sometimes surprises me, the diff’t bird types I see fly-catching. Townsend’s Solitaires, for instance. Today, added a new one to my list: Black-headed Grosbeak. Saw a bird fly straight up, out from a tree, & snatch some insect mid-air. Then dive back into the tree. Surprised, when watched once again thru binocs, & saw it was a BH Grosbeak. Very cool.
Still have Rufous Hummingbirds coming thru daily. Inclined to think the Moose Fire, up by Salmon, is probably displacing some Rufous a bit earlier than usual. That combined with just the extraordinary heat, we’re having. We usually start seeing Rufous fall migrants by 2nd wk of August. Been seeing for 2 wks now.
The Ruth Melichar bird rehab center has a Bank Swallow they would like to release. Since Bank Swallows are not common on my route, I told them I would ask the list if there are any active colonies in the Boise area where they could release
the bird. If you know of any, please let me know, and I will pass it on. You can reply directly to me or post it to the list.
This looks like a normal male Black-chinned Hummingbird. He seems to be undergoing some body molt on his forehead (you can see the white pin feathers there showing new feathers growing in). These stiff pins are probably what lead to the odd feather posture.
This time of year we see many male Black-chinned molting some body feathers. They seem to fit in some of their molt before they begin migrating south, then complete their molt on their wintering grounds.
This is good information for me. Thank you. Typically I get no hummingbirds through the summer, so I don’t put feeders out anymore, but the fall migration brings mostly rufous and rarely the Blackchinned or Calliope. I’ll hang out some hummer grub tomorrow!!
Home of Idaho Birding and the Idaho Bird Records Committee
