I shot this pic an hour and a half before sundown. In the shade. Camera w/b set on shade, AV program, F5.6, ISO 1600. I have made this shot many times closer to sundown at this spot and always had color on the birds. So is this a Ruby-throated or something else? This is straight from the camera with no editing done.
I never got a pic of his back side but here is one with him showing more throat and looking the other way. I made 31 pics in all and he looks the same in all.
I can't see anything structurally that makes it a different species; if it was e.g. Black-chinned, I'd think the slightly longer and more downcurved bill would be evident. Maybe an immature male Ruby-throat from last spring? Or a leucistic or melanistic bird without the normal colours?
Resin
Thank you Resin. There is no doubt it is a Ruby-throat. The only color I could see on it was a little fringe of light yellow just below where the red should be. Where the red should be usually shows up black when the light is wrong. Those feathers on this one look gray. But there is a definite border between those and the white on the lower throat.
I have only seen one like this one time before about 50 years ago but he was dead.
