My Colorado Trip Day 1 Part B

As the day went on I came across the location of some hummingbird feeders.  They were on the second floor balconies  of  a multi story condominium (I think).  Anyways, one place had a couple of feeders and the place across the way had another.  There were a number of hummingbirds fighting for use of these feeders and I got some shot that were OK and a number that weren't as good.  I have had some issues IDing these birds, especially the females, but there were some Rufous Hummingbirds(for sure) and Broad-tailed Hummingbirds (likely) and possibly Calliope Hummingbirds.

 Here is a female Rufuous with the central orange/red spot on her neck:

This is a Broad-tailed male.  Note the white chin above the Rosy red throat.

Next came Calliope Hummingbirds.  The identifiers are that it is a tiny short billed bird with a pale buffy breast (like the Rufous, Allen's and Broad-tailed) but with a shorter tail (wingtips reaching the tail tip). a friend stated on one of the forums: That salmon wash on the flanks w/ the dotted throat are strong field marks. You can also glimpse the white tips on the outer tail feathers in your 2nd pic.  All three of these Hummingbirds are lifers!

I saw a couple of Western Tanagers.  The male has a yellow wing bar and the female/ juvie has two white wingbars.

 There were Northern Flickers of the Red-shafted variety:

I saw a Hairy Woodpecker which is uncommon compared to the Downy

 Coming back towards the end of the day, I saw a House Wren and Lincoln's Sparrow

9:33 AM - September 7, 2009 - post comment

Marvelous!

This looks like it turned out to be a really good trip. Great shots of some gorgeous birds.

- jason
xenogere.com

Anonymous - 1:26 PM - September 13, 2009