IBRC 63-B-09

IDAHO BIRD RECORDS COMMITTEE
RARE BIRD REPORT FORM

SPECIES: Anna's hummingbird
HOW MANY: 1 female of unknown age

REPORTER: Buck Harris 3054 N. 24th St. Boise, ID 83702 208-344-8592
REPORTER EMAIL: juleharris@cableone.net
OTHER OBSERVERS: Observed by Buck and Julie Harris. Same contact information as above

DATE REPORT PREPARED: 11/8/09
DATE SIGHTING OCCURRED: 11/7/09
LOCALITY OF OBSERVATION: Backyard of our residence at the above address which is at the base of the foothills in North Boise; a couple blocks north of Hill Rd. Closest intersection is 24th St. and Mountain Shadow. HABITAT: typical backyard with aspen, sagebrush, grass and pine trees
CONDITIONS: Off and on all day on 11/7/09 and if the same bird, it has been here for the past several weeks; temps in the mid 50's but also observed it at a feeder as the sun came up when the temp was in the 30's; partly sunny, very pleasant with little wind. We were able to get with several yards of the bird on a couple occasions. It would feed at the feeder then move off to a nearby aspen and sit, returning to the feeder and then leave, only to return later in the day. We watched it without optics, but also with a pair of Pentax 10x43 binocs as well through the lense of a 400mm zoom lens on a camera

DID YOU TAKE NOTES?: No, not at all
DID YOU CONSULT FIELD GUIDE OR OTHER REFERENCES?: Yes, later the same day
WHAT GUIDE(S) OR REFERENCE(S) DID YOU CONSULT?: Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America, 2003; Audubon Handbook Western Birds, 1988;

DESCRIPTION: Think it belongs to the hummingbird family....average size, shiny green back, dark wings that extended to its tail;shorter dark bill, light gray plumage on underside (not as clean looking as other hbirds we've seen), white spot behind the eye but also a slight white eye ring above the eye; in the sunlight a reflective bright ed patch on its neck; top of head and back of head green, extending down its backside. not much neck...chubbier physique
BEHAVIOR: not much behavior observed. it would appear on the feeder then fly off to a nearby aspen and perch there for periods of time, returning to feeder or flying off, only to return throughout the day. Noticed no bird sounds other than the buzz of its wings when it flew, if we were close enough to hear. No interaction with other birds. flight pattern was pretty direct when it came and went. presence of other birds didn't appear to disturb it as finches, juncos nuthatches and quail were in the same area.

HOW AND WHEN DID YOU POSITIVELY IDENTIFY THE BIRD, AND WHAT CLINCHED THE IDENTIFICATION FOR YOU? For the past couple weeks have assumed it was a female blackchinned hbird. for that reason, had not looked real close at it. on 11/7/09 noticed the red patch on its neck and realized that it was not a blackchinned. after looking closer noticed the gray colored underside - not as clean as well as more white markings around the eye than I normally associate with a blackchinned; pulled out Sibley's which described the red spot on the neck/underchin of female Anna's. Everything else described by Sibley's seemed consistent with our observation. Also noted on Wikepedia that Anna's is the only hbird that winters in northern climates. This might explain why this hbird is still in our area in early November.
HOW DID YOU ELIMINATE SIMILAR SPECIES, AND WHAT WERE THEY? Blackchinned doesn't have red spots on neck and is more slender; Female rufous has some slight buff/rufous color on sides not noticed on this hbird; neither of these others have the amount of gray on its underside

EXPERIENCE WITH THIS SPECIES (AND SIMILAR SPECIES): Do not have any familiarity with this species. We normally see Blackchinned and Rufous
GENERAL BIRDING EXPERIENCE: Took an ornithology class in college in 1977 and have been interested ever since. Don't know how to rate my level of expertise, but do have over 100 birds on my lifetime list

WERE PHOTO(S), VIDEO, AND/OR AUDIO OBTAINED BY YOU?: Photo

Images were cropped and resized from originals.  Click on images to view original files.