According to my old bird guides, one of which dates back to a field biology class I took at eighteen or nineteen, this little guy isn’t supposed to be here. He’s supposed to be anywhere from Northern California to Alaska. But here he is, in Southern California. (Notice how we Californians capitalize the two regions, as if we wanted to be two separate states, like the Dakotas or the Carolinas?)
Anyway, he’s in the wrong place, I think. If it’s time for Rufous Hummingbirds to migrate to winter grounds, he’s supposed to be in Mexico, or on his way there. This feisty little Selasphorus rufus has claimed the territory around our feeder during the past two days. I’ve been paying attention to hummingbirds all my life, and we’ve fed them for years, here at the north end of the county and in the city of San Diego, but we never saw a Rufous before, at least not closely enough to identify it. With no green on his back (see below), he’s definitely a Rufous.
My photos don’t do him justice, though they might if he would sit still for a few seconds and let me focus. He’s a glowing reddish gold with an irridescent scarlet throat that could stop traffic. He’s faster than any of the other hummingbirds, and he doesn’t let them forget it.
Maybe his range has been thrown off by global warming, as this Smithsonian site seems to hint, or perhaps they’ve always been around and I just haven’t noticed.
Nice photos. Humming birds are amazing. I’m used to seeing them hovering at a feeder but they look comical if you spot them, at rest, perched on a tree limb. Who shrunk the bird?!!
Neat! Out East all we have is the Ruby-Throated, but I’m happy enough with that. I don’t know about global warming, but yes, we’ve seen many birds in our area that aren’t usual according to the old books, and some do seem to stay through the winters now instead of going further south.
Love those little guys.
I just love hummingbirds. We have them in our yard. But we don’t ever have misplaced hummingbirds.
How nice that you got pictures.
Wonderful pictures! Enjoy your new visitor.
Oh, Barb, he’s beautiful. No doubt our climate changes are affecting the
patterns of migrations as well.
Your photos are fabulous!
I used to be fond and fascinated by hummingbirds until I read an exposé regarding their behavior. I won’t go into details because your readership might be devastated to know the unsavory truths about them. Though I no longer consider them cute, I am still fascinated.
Oh, how I love the hummingbird season. I have them here, too, lured by the cardinal flower, fuschias, and other red and orange delights that I added to my garden, especially for them!
The rufous has moved on. He was here for about a week. The other hummingbirds seem happy to see him go, since he kept them all away from the feeder. I suspect they ganged up on him and ran him out of town — or maybe he was just on a stopover in his migration. I’m glad I snapped some pictures when I did.
Eric — I’ve watched these little guys all my life, and can never get over how tiny they are.
Susan — I think we get ruby-throateds too, as well as black-chinned and probably some others. The variety here is no doubt due to our proximity to Mexico and a semi-arid Mediterranean climate. Some stay here for the winter, and some head farther south.
Creechman — I love them too, can’t help myself. We also have tiny baby alligator lizards, which I have come to love after a lifetime of prejudice against reptiles.
Cassie-b — Sometimes I just get lucky with the camera.
Blogdog — Thanks!
Beverly — Yeah, the climate changes are definitely affecting me. I’m about ready to migrate, but I don’t know where I’d go.
Reenie — Nature has her dark side. At least hummingbirds don’t build bombs, though sometimes they behave with each other as if they’d like to. They scuffle over feeding territory, aren’t faithful to their mates, and leave the females to do all the babysitting. They’re almost too much like people. Still they amaze me.
Violetismycolor — I love fuchsias. My mom and grandmother used to keep them hanging in the patio, and the hummingbirds loved them.
I think we just got one of these birds in orange county. Good looking bird, never saw one like this before, so i found this site when i looked up a picture of one….yeah, i have a great picture of it, would like to share it, but how?
The bird did take over the feeder, running off the locals…..
Mike, search the Internet for a photo sharing service, I believe there are some that are still free. Then you’ll have a link others can click to view your photo, and you can share that link with others anywhere you want online.
That’s the easiest way I know of to share a photo online that doesn’t require some specialized knowledge.
Thanks Ken, i will try that…
I am pretty sure I saw a Rufous up in northern Arizona this summer. He was a striking little fella. I live down in the AZ deserts so am fortunate to see quite a few of the birds that migrate back and forth from Mexico.
I think the Rufous hummingbird is incredibly beautiful. I love earthtone colors and this little bird fits right in that range. I have seen them in northern Arizona and absolutely love them. Beautiful pictures. Thanks for posting. That is one thing I haven’t been able to do, is get good HB photos.
(sorry, I didn’t realize I had posted in the past. sorry for repeating.)