IBRC 43-B-11

IDAHO BIRD RECORDS COMMITTEE
RARE BIRD REPORT FORM

SPECIES: Anna's Hummingbird
HOW MANY: one adult female

REPORTER: Spencer Walters P.O.Box 252 Garden Valley, Idaho 83622
REPORTER EMAIL: spencerw100@yahoo.com
OTHER OBSERVERS: No other observers at this point in time. I will update if it sticks around and others come to see it.

DATE REPORT PREPARED: 7-23-11
DATE SIGHTING OCCURRED: 7/23/11

LOCALITY OF OBSERVATION: This bird was seen at my home at Project Patch in Garden Valley, Boise County, Idaho. The address is 175G Garden Valley Ranch Road.
HABITAT: mixed open forest of pine and cottonwood
CONDITIONS: The bird came in five times over a period of 30 minutes and stayed at the feeder for approximately 30 seconds each time. It was viewed from a distance of two feet to a distance of 15 feet. Optics included Bausch and Lomb 10x42's as well as my eyes since two feet is too close for my binocs. The feeder and bird were in the shade of the roof of my deck and the temperature was approximately 85 degrees with nil wind.

DID YOU TAKE NOTES?: Yes, during the observation
DID YOU CONSULT FIELD GUIDE OR OTHER REFERENCES?: Yes, later the same day
WHAT GUIDE(S) OR REFERENCE(S) DID YOU CONSULT?: I consulted Sibley Guide to birds by David Allen Sibley. Copyright 2000.

DESCRIPTION: It is in the hummingbird family for obvious reasons. Starting at it's head and working down-it had white over the eye as well as the white "eyebrow" extending back behind the eye. It had a red central patch on it's throat that I was able to see well when it turned to face me on several occasions. There was no hint of buffy color on it's breast or flanks, but there was a hint of greenish gray on the flanks. I did not look at tail pattern at the time.
BEHAVIOR: It was sitting on my hummingbird feeder and eating the sugar water. When compared to a female Black-chinned Hummingbird that flew in at the same time, it had a slightly larger appearance in length as well as "chunkiness". It's white eyeline was distinct when compared to the white eye patch of the black-chinned. It chased the female Black-chinned Hummingbird away from the feeder.

HOW AND WHEN DID YOU POSITIVELY IDENTIFY THE BIRD, AND WHAT CLINCHED THE IDENTIFICATION FOR YOU? The second time it came to the feeder I was able to get a closer look at it and make the identification. The eyeline, throat patch and lack of buffy color all indicated to me Anna's. I've seen this species in Arizona several times.
HOW DID YOU ELIMINATE SIMILAR SPECIES, AND WHAT WERE THEY? Going through the three typical species we get in Garden Valley and comparing the Anna's with them: -When compared to Calliope the Anna's was larger, had no hint of buff on the flanks and did have the central red patch on it's throat. It's bill was stouter than Calliope as well and the white eyeline was evident. -When compared to Black-chinned it was slightly larger, although not much, and more "plump" than the Black-chinned. It had a red throat patch instead of the purple of a male Black-chinned and the throat patch was restricted to a small portion of the throat. The white eye over the eye and the eyeline were, once again, distinct from Black-chinned. -When compared to the Rufous Hummingbird the Anna's showed absolutely no orange/rufous color either on the body or tail(I did notice that much about the tail). I know that the female Rufous can show a red central spot on it's throat as well, but it does not have the white eyeline that I noticed on this Anna's Hummingbird. We have no other regular Hummingbird species in our area but Broad-tailed, Costa's and Ruby-throated could also all be ruled out due to the combination of above field marks.

EXPERIENCE WITH THIS SPECIES (AND SIMILAR SPECIES): I have seen and am very familiar with this species from seeing it several times in Arizona over the course of the past eight years. I have also seen this species,albeit a juvenile, in Boise in the winter. I have also seen all breeding species of hummingbird in North America and am familiar with them.
GENERAL BIRDING EXPERIENCE: I have been birding since 2002 with several trips to SE Arizona, Texas, Florida, Alaska, California, etc... and a life list of 606 species. I would say that I am a skilled birder and an avid chaser of new birds.

WERE PHOTO(S), VIDEO, AND/OR AUDIO OBTAINED BY YOU?: None

Photos taken by Ralph Foote on 24 July 2011 using a Nikon D7000 with a 70-to-300 zoom lens.  They have been cropped by the webmaster but no other edits were done.  Click images to view original files.