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Showing posts from August, 2010

Hummingbirds of Arizona (long)

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On our trip to AZ during the first week of August, we recorded 11 species of hummingbird. I was able to digiscope 9 of the 11, plus a hybrid. I've posted my better shots here, trying to include as many plumages as I could. This was my first shot at delving into the hummingbirds of the southwest. The small gorgeted species can really provide an ID challenge, as evidenced by the difficultly eastern birders often have identifying vagrants. At times they can be humbling. Seen but NOT photographed were: Berylline Hummingbird ( Amazilia beryllina ) Rufous Hummingbird ( Selasphorus rufus ) Broad-billed Hummingbird ( Cynanthus latirostris ): adult male adult male immature male likely immature male, due to blue coming into throat and very thin pale tips to outer retrices immature male...blueish tail striking in flight; relative lack of white in tail tip seem to rule out female White-eared Hummingbird ( Hylocharis leucotis ): adult males Violet-crowned Hummingbird ( Amazilia violiceps ) : ad