Black chinned hummingbird??

He looked like a black chinned hummingbird but his feathers seemed to change color when he was flying...?

Nice feeder! Nice shot!

He is beautiful Teresa! Any more pics of him?

The throat iridescence varies a lot depending on the angle of lighting, so not too reliable.

The bill is fairly straight, which favours Ruby-throated (Black-chinned marginally more downcurved), but not a lot in that difference either. Best if you can get an at-rest photo showing the wing shape.

Resin

Looks more like a Ruby-throat to me. The light can fool you on hummers, but the throat doesn't look black, nor the ring underneath purple. A little too much color on the breast. The Black-chins have green flanks, but not breasts.

Here is a pic of a Black-chin at one of my feeders for comparison.

Here's a picture of him still.... Awesome picture redd... Nice fedder also, LOVE LOVE the shot, great job!

I copied your pic so I could zoom in closer on the bird and I still can't tell for sure. Color of the throat isn't clear. The beak does have a slight curve which would indicate Black-chinned.
I don't think Sibley's and other references show them as far north as Joshua, but they don't show them in western OK and they are common.

I like to be able to id birds, but I don't obsess about it like some. In the end both are common species and what difference does it make?:)

yeah... well i quess that i get carried away with identifying birds ever since we've spotted the painted buntings and indigo buntings alike... then once I read that they were not really rare, but that their doesnt' seem to be a whole lot, and that they're usually on the coast... It intriqued me a lot!

Beautiful image of a hummingbird. I agree that it is hard to tell due to the angle and refraction of light, whether or not it is a BCH. Still no matter what kind he is, it is a beautiful photo.
WIB,
SW

thanks SW!

After I posted this a.m., I was sitting on the patio and snapped a pic of what I assumed was a Ruby-throat. Only after I looked at the pic did I notice that it was a Black-chinned. I have both here and in poor light, it is difficult to determine the difference.

It really is, especially if the background light is dim or if your in the shade. I took my pictures with my speed shot setting. That's the only way that I can catch them. I Loved the picture you posted. What a GREAT shot!

A common problem we all face. What kind of camera's are you all using? Mine died. Funeral tomorrow at 7. So I'm wondering what kind you use and why you like it? I could go to the photos forum and ask, but thought it might be good to ask people who are already taking the kind of photos I want to take.
teresa, know exactly what you mean. Some days I'm just happy to get a flash of color.
WIB,
SW

I'm using a Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-H10 digital still camera. It's nothing fancy compared to a high dollar camera, say like one that's a thousand bucks, I got my camera last year for four hundred dollars. I saved up to get mine. I have been pleased with it considering what I was using before only had 3.1 megapixels. Our phones have that now days! This one only has 8.1 megapixels but I have adobe program software if I need to adjust the lighting on a picture along with other things. The adobe software was about four hundred dollars also, but it was worth it.

Most of my shots here are taken with a Nikon Coolpix P80. Has a 18X optical lense and 10 MP. I bought mine when they first came out and they are much cheaper now. Saw a kit on Amazon that included camera, extra battery, memory card and case for $300.

If you just want a simple photo program, you can download Picasa for free. I use it most of the time to crop and adjust add fill light etc.

Sorry about that, power went out. About the program, my husband wanted to buy it... kind of leaned me towards getting it. It's very complicated. The store sales person said that the adobe program is what's used to teach college students about pictures and picture programs, and that there was a three week course on it! Alittle more than I wanted being that I still haven't figured it out really. But I love my camera. I wanted a 10 MP camera, but was told the only reason to have one with that is if I was to blow the pictures up to poster size. So I settled for this camera. I love it though. There is a wide conversion lens and a tele conversion lens that you can purchase separetely for my camera, I have just failed to do so yet. Wouldn't be a bad investment though. Picasa huh... i'll have to try it! thanks again redd

Thank you for your responses. I'm glad for you input.
Thanks for letting me ask, redd, it's been most informative. I appreciate the courtesy and hope to be posting some good hummer photos again.
WIB,
SW

Teresa, the best printed photos have a resolution of 300 pixels to the inch. If you ever sell any for a magazine cover the mag would reguire a photo of 9x11 with 300 pixels/inch. That would mean I would have to add a few pixels with photoshop to get the 9 inches. Most 10 megapixel cameras allow a pic with around 8-1/2x12 inches at 300 per inch. I have printed pics with less pixels and they were ok for me. Plus the more pixels a camera has; the more room there is to crop. A poster made with 10 mega pixels looked at up close would not be real sharp.

I use a Canon Rebel XTi. I would rather have a camera like SecondcousinDave.

As far as lenses; 300mm is ok but I would rather have 500mm.

I have adobe elements 7 but I do most of my editing with Picaso.