The Birders Report

Calliope Hummingbird photos by Larry Jordan

The Calliope Hummingbird is the smallest bird breeding in North America at a mere 3 1/4 inches in size.  I discovered these beauties when I went out to try and get some photos of the Rufous Hummingbirds I had seen at the feeders.

This female is so small, she half disappears as she enters a flower of the Sapphire Dragon tree blooming next to the feeder.  She is distinguished from the Rufous Hummingbird by her smaller size and wings which extend beyond her shorter, square tipped tail.

The buff color on her sides is lighter than on the Rufous Hummingbird and, if you look at the top photo you can see that, in front of her eye there is a dark spot, then a pale line that goes over the base of her bill.  Compare this to the perched Rufous Hummingbird female below.

Also the pattern of spots on the throat of the Calliope Hummingbird are smaller and more evenly distributed than those on the Rufous Hummingbird, but the facial pattern seems to me to be the most distiguishing difference for identification of the female.

The male Calliope Hummingbird, on the other hand, is easily identified by his gorget.

The male hummingbird gorget (pronounced gawr-jit, meaning “armor for the throat”) is arguably his most spectacular attribute.  The male Calliope Hummingbird’s gorget shows purple-red rays spreading out below his beak against an all white background.

Those feathers can also be folded like a dark inverted “V” on his throat.

He is the only hummingbird in the U.S. with this gorget pattern.

That iridescent green crown really makes him quite the jewel too, doesn’t it?

I found an incredible photo by Wally Rufous of the Calliope Hummingbird in a courtship display of his gorget.  You can see it here.  It is absolutely amazing!

Go check out the other posts at IATB #124 and Skywatch Friday!

Yellow-rumped Audubon’s Warbler photos by Larry Jordan

I watched as the first group of Yellow-rumped Warblers passed through my yard a few days ago.  A small flock of Audubon’s Warblers was spotted in one of the oak trees in front of the house.

This male, in full breeding plumage, was very cooperative, perching on the ends of the branches

as he searched for grubs to glean from the scrub oak.  There’s a nice juicy one!

The female Audubon’s Warbler was a bit more discrete.

She foraged a little quicker than the male and seemed to remain more hidden.  Her subtle coloring creating its own appeal.

I love the way passerine birds take of from their perches.  Usually, they just jump into flight

but sometimes they do some incredible dives that are tough to visualize in real time.  I was lucky to catch this guy as he made some twisting, back flip kinda thing that I thought was really cool.

I hope everyone is enjoying the Spring Migration.  To see more cool bird photos, check out Birdfreak’s Bird Photography Weekly!

Oak Titmouse In Nest photos by Larry Jordan

This is a series of photos of my newest 2010 arrivals on the bluebird trails, the Oak Titmouse.  They are always the first to nest on my trails.

The first photo was taken after I had checked the nest box and found five tiny chicks, mouths agape, waiting for a meal.  I had left the camera in the car and by the time I got back to the nest, the adult was back, brooding.

When I checked the nest box four days later I found these seven chicks (five obvious mouths agape, one back left you can just see the tip of the beak and one whos beak you can see in the middle, underneath the others)

And this shot I took this afternoon, the chicks are nine days old

I found an exceptional video of the Tufted Titmouse, which is the eastern version of Titmouse, created by Paul Murray, showing the entire nesting cycle of this bird, from nest hunting to fledging.  It is a nine minute video but well worth watching if you want to see what really goes on inside a nest box.  Click on Paul’s link above to view the video.

If you want to see more great bird photos, check out Bird Photography Weekly.