The Problem with Hummingbirds

The problem with hummingbirds is that they look different in different light.  Sometimes that makes them more interesting, but sometimes it just makes identification more difficult.

While in Costa Rica we saw many hummingbirds.  A few were easy to identify, many were not.  At the time it was easy because we had Steve our guide there telling us that this is a Scintillant and that is a Volcano.  I snapped photos happily and never dreamed that when I looked at them later I would have no idea which was which and no memory of which one we saw at 8:36 and which was at 10:24.

I mentioned those two because they are the ones that are causing the most trouble. I found a website that showed photos of males and females of both which one would think would make identification easier.  One would think.  But then we are back to the problem of lighting.  None of my photos showed a bright purple or orange throat.  And my birds did not cooperate like the ones on the website and sit side by side on a branch--still--and pointing in the same direction.

So here are photos of a new hybrd discovered last December:  Scintillant-Volcano Hummingbirds.

Okay, perhaps I exaggerate a bit.  I labelled the first three pictures Scintillant and the next two Volcano.  I'd like to name the last one a Volcano as well, but I'm too confused to commit myself.

If you would like to weigh in on this (please do) here is the link to the Neotropical page that shows what these birds can look like under great lighting. I'd love to know for sure which is which.
http://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/portal/species/identification?p_p_spp=281496

Winter Birds from my Office Chair

I have seen birds since my last post, more than four hundred species in fact, most of them while in Costa Rica in December.  I plan to post a few photos of those, but today I am posting the birds that I saw while I should have been doing useful things with numbers.

The bird we see in our yard in winter the most is the House Sparrow.  There are dozens of them, more than we have in the summer.

Blue Jays vary in our yard, some winters we don't see any, in other years the Jays are here intermittently.  This year we seem to have about 4 or 5 on an ongoing basis.  There were more in the fall, but I think some moved on.

(In the interest of full disclosure, the photos of the Blue Jays were taken from my kitchen window, not the office window, but the same birds have been seen from the office, I just liked these photos better.)

One of my favourite winter birds, the Common Redpoll, like the Blue Jays, are not here every year.  This year I've seen maybe three or four at a time, but I am quite sure there are more around.  One of the things about a farm is that there are many food choices, showing up at the feeders by the house is not required in order to be fed.

We have a Red-breasted Nuthatch this winter.  I may have seem one in our yard occasionally in the past, but this little guy is a regular at our feeders.  Very exciting for me.

And then there is the summer bird that shouldn't be here but is.  This American Goldfinch startled me when I saw him a few days ago.  I have no idea where he has been since all his buddies few south, but he is here eating my niger seed this week.

And occasionally the sunflower seeds too.