Rufous Hummingbird

Status Two sight records. A hummingbird was seen by three observers in the Bedford, Halifax County, garden of M.A. Christie on 8 August 1967. Several ruby-throats, a species with which the Christies had been familiar for many years, had been about the garden all summer. This different bird stayed about the garden for two days, giving them ample opportunity to establish that its colouring was definitely that of an adult male Rufous Hummingbird. Another hummingbird at Hebron, Yarmouth County, on 21 August 1983 was described by Annie Saunders as being larger than a ruby-throat, having a back the colour of a dark robin breast, broken streaks on the throat, and white tips on some tail feathers. These marks in combination appear to exclude anything but a young male Rufous Hummingbird.

Remarks Of all North American hummingbirds, this one is most prone to wander from its normal range. Most records in the East have been of immature birds, difficult to identify to species. For example, a bird with a bright green back and rufous sides seen briefly by Steven Manuel on Seal Island on 10 September 1983 could have been this species or some other member of the genus Selasphorus. Observers should be particularly alert in late autumn, the season when most exotic hummingbirds have appeared in the East.