Update on North Fork Rufouses

Yesterday I was able to see the 2 rufous hummingbirds that are currently residing at a private North Fork yard about 15 minutes away from the sanctuary. The very nice homeowner is doing a great job of keeping them happy, and is determined to do what it takes to see them safely through the winter. Her yard has lots of excellent hummingbird plants, with many salvias still in bloom, but last night was the first hard freeze of the season and the flowers may not survive much longer. She is rotating 3 feeders and I was able to loan her 2 heated freezers (the ones we used to help LaLa survive much of last winter). She also has plans to supply them with a few live fruit-flies - they will need occasional protein snacks. I saw the 2 hummers come separately several times to the 3 feeders but I was not able to get video. I will try again tomorrow. The big test will come on thursday when the temperature will drop into the teens and I'm very happy that I could deliver the heated feeders in time for them to adapt to them. In the mean time here are some excellent photos taken previously by Cathy Taldone.

The second photo clearly shows a red gorget patch, but they may not be both male juveniles - apparently juvenile and adult females can also sport a red throat patch, unlike the rubythroat.