Image courtesy of Barbara Hamel
| Back to this week's update. |
| Only Seeing Females? Many people have been reporting nothing but female ruby-throated hummingbirds at their feeders. People often don't realize that juvenile male and female ruby-throats look almost identical to adult females. All have white throats, green backs, a patch of white behind the eye, and their 3 outermost tail feathers are white-tipped on both sides of the tail. Sometimes young males, like the one pictured here, have their first few iridescent feathers on the throat. This winter, when they molt for the first time, the males will attain the full ruby-throat for which they are named. |
Image courtesy of Barbara Hamel |