We are of course closed, until august, but I have to break silence to report a very unusual hummingbird here on Long island, in Sound Beach. The above photo was taken recently (thanks Jim!), and shows what is almost certainly a rufous (Selasphorus rufus) - note the reddish sides. This bird arrived at thnaksgiving, and is still present - Jim has rigged a heater under a feeder to prevent it from freezing.
The next image shows the same bird feeding from a flower, and it's clearly a juvenile male.
The rufous is very similar in size to our summer resident rubythroat (Archilocus colubris), but is normally found only west of the Mississippi river. The rubythroat is a very regular migrator, and I never see them after mid-october. The rufous sometimes wanders far to the east of its normal range, and is the commonest winter hummingbird on Long Island (though still very rare). I will post more pictures soon. Thanks again to Jim, and to Johnny Cuomo (birdsofafeathercamp.com).
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