Let me follow up from Larry’s Hummingbird Report with my own
observations here in the Highlands area of Boise.
I got our feeders up on April 30th and immediately had both
Black-chinned and Calliope visiting the feeders. I don’t keep as
accurate of records as Larry but in the last 10-12 years I think we have
had our FOY hummers in April only 2-3 times. The more normal date is May
3-5 or so. So yes, this is an early year.
So far I have only seen male Black-chinned but have both male and female
Calliope. Like Larry’s place, outside of spring and fall migration, the
only hummingbirds we have are Black-chinned. Calliope and Rufous are
brief visitors, hanging out only until they feel like moving on to
where they really want to be.
I want to pass on an observation and see if others have comments.
Yesterday I heard a hummer come in that sounded like a Huey Helicopter.
It’s wings were really loud. Almost like some of the flying beetles I
have seen and heard. Of course I immediately thought it was a
Broad-tailed – a specie I have only seen 2-3 times here and in the fall.
When I finally got a good look at it I realized it was a Calliope – no
doubt. The question then is why was it’s wingbeat so loud? A damaged
primary? Moulting? Any thoughts? I also want to caution folks to make a
Broad-tailed ID call based on wingbeat noise. I noticed a bunch of
recent eBird sightings of Broad-tailed that referenced this usual field
trait. But, it also seems like there might be “noisy Calliope’s” out there.
Scott Tuthill
