See my hummer friend!

I posted these on the brug forum for a friend, but thought you guys would like them.

Another

One more

Nice shots! He was hungry!
yvana :)

I have only noticed two different ones this year. They are very regular vistors, coming all times of the day, from early am until just before dark.

Great pics, Badseed - taken with your new Oly750, I presume? I've taken a few shots with mine, but I'm still fumbling a lot with the menus. Your garden looks so green! We're now officially in a drought in Iowa, and nothing looks that good.

BTW, Yvana, I can't tell the sex of butterflies, but I do know this is a she - the male would have the ruby throat.

MartyJo, sorry to burst your bubble, but the hummer pictures is an immature male.

Wonderful pictures...

Someone's enjoying her camera A LOT! Wow, those are neat shots, Chele.

New camera?? How nice...what did you get?

She got an Olympus C-750. Here's the threads: http://davesgarden.com/t/395619/ then http://davesgarden.com/t/396199/

hummer-nut - I readily admit your greater knowledge and experience. But tell me how you know.

I read this:
"Plumage
Adult male: Emerald green back, iridescent ruby red gorget (throat) that may appear black under some lighting conditions, gray flanks, forked tail with no white. Smaller than the female.
Adult female: Emerald green back, white breast and throat, rounded tail with white tips. Larger than the male, with longer bill.
Juveniles: Young of both sexes look like the adult female. In August and September, young males may develop some red spots in the gorget.
Gender identification is simple if the light is right: the brilliant red gorget of the male is unmistakable. More commonly, though, the shape and presence of white on the tail is a more reliable field mark."
http://www.hummingbirds.net/rubythroated.html

Wonderful pictures, Badseed. The clarity is incredible!

MartyJo,
Trying to identify juvenile hummers can sometimes be very difficult. 1st it helps to know which part of the country the hummer is in, in this pic Cincinnati, OH, which
makes me almost 100% sure it is a Rubythroat. 2nd, if you look at the 2nd & 3rd pics you will note that this hummer has little dots on its throat, this is the start of its gorget, which will fill in next year after it molts. 3rd, the coloration on its side & abdomen indicate a male. 4th, the overall size indicates a male. This hummer has gained weight for its migration to Central America, it is probably flys more like a helicopter now rather than a jet. In order for Ruby's to make the migration to Central Amer. they have to gain an additional 50% in body weight. 5th, but only with the 1st four observations, the white tips on its tail. Only adult female ruby's and juvenile rubys(both male & female) have white tips. Adult ruby's do not have any white. This is also true with other species in the US. There is one exception, but this hummer only occurs along the Mexican border in the Southwestern US. Even the pros are fooled by sight alone, only by having them in hand can a positive ID be make in a lot of instances. After looking at and observing thousands there is one thing that I have learned, the more I know about hummers the more I realize that I do not know very much. If you have any other questions, ask, if I do not know the answer, I will find out. Larry

Wow looking so good picture so close, I wish have it here only once couple years ago never see again =( maybe the reason my cats chase them away, oh well too bad. Thank you for sharing the pictures is beautiful.

Thanks for the detailed info, Larry. This forum and all of Dave's Garden is really expanding my mind by leaps and bounds!

Wonderful photos and lovely thread.

And I, I keep on learning! Thanks.

Badseed, your pictures with your new camera are wonderful.

I caught the little hummer with a friend the other day-completely on accident! I posted in photos if anyone needs to see ANOTHER one. LOL