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Re: Finally, a winter hummingbird!
Hi folks,
Nice to hear there are hummers popping up. I keep my feeders primed just in
case.
However, I have somewhat of a hummer-related question. I happened to be
working from home yesterday and a mystery bird appeared at the hummer feeder
hanging on one of my study windows. It's definitely not a hummer, but a
small dark gray to black bird with white breast and 2 small white areas on
each folded wing. It's beak is sharp. I have yet to see it at another
feeder or feeding on the ground and my fountain does have water so I don't
think it is using the hummer feeder as a water source. Any comments on the
possibility of what this mystery sucrose lover might be would be
appreciated.
Regards,
Randy Dunson
Hillsborough NC
----- Original Message -----
From: "Joshua Stuart Rose" <jsr6@duke.edu>
To: <carolinabirds@duke.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2001 3:53 PM
Subject: Finally, a winter hummingbird!
> Hi Carolinabirders,
>
> While I was walking my migraine-ridden girlfriend to the student health
> center, my housemate Norm Douglas was at home having breakfast. He saw a
> hummingbird visit our feeder! No firm ID as yet; Norm called it a female
> Ruby-throated, but could not rule out Black-chinned. Norm is a New Mexico
> native, so I'm fairly confident it was an Archilocus sp. female rather
> than a Selasphorus or other genus. I probably won't get home before dark
> today (what a day to have walked to school instead of driving!), but
> hopefully I'll have time tomorrow morning to watch the feeder and see if
> the critter returns. And if anyone else has the time and motivation, I'll
> gladly supply directions; we've got a table and chairs and even a hammock
> in the backyard. Just let me know when you're coming, so I can warn my
> housemates to expect a stranger in the backyard (sorry, feeder's
> invisible from the front).
>
> On Tue, 23 Jan 2001, danetherton wrote:
> >
> > Song Sparrow at Franklin was singing one
> > song after another, and I mean with no pause between.
>
> Funny coincidence, I had the same experience today. We walked to get
> breakfast at the Eno Cafe, in the Durham Wellspring, and cut down Perry
> Street. Just past the Cosmic Cantina, I heard a song which sounded like a
> Song Sparrow's in tone, but which was much longer. I had just decided
> that it must have been a Starling which was mixing Song Sparrow mimicry
> in with other noises, but then I spotted the singer at the top of a
> nearby deciduous tree: Song Sparrow, sure enough. Some folks here do
> research into sparrow song development and such, I'll have to inquire
> with them...
>
> Good birding,
>
> Josh
>
>
>
> Joshua S. Rose
> Duke University
> Department of Biology (Zoology, R.I.P.)
>
> jsr6@acpub.duke.edu
> http://www.duke.edu/~jsr6/
>
>