A-Allen'sHummingbird

Photo Study Of An Allen's Hummingbird, Lititz (Lancaster County), PA, November 9th, 2010

    Sandy Lockerman and Scott Weidensaul banded this first-year, male Allen's Hummingbird (Selasphorus sasin) this past weekend. The bird has been coming to the feeder
    and sage in Mrs. Edith Bailey's garden at the Landis Homes Retirement Community in Lititz, PA for about a week and a half. The hummingbird is an immature male with
    a partial gorget and lots of rust in the rump and flanks. The tail is mostly rufous with black at the end. As would be expected this time of year, it is in heavy molt and pretty
    scruffy looking.

This is only the second-ever Allen's Hummingbird reported in Pennsylvania. The first occurred last year, coming to a feeder in Leola, PA. I photographed the female
Allen's (below) a couple of times between December 22nd and 28th, 2009 after it was banded by Scott Weidensaul.

For comparative purposes, here is a photo (below) of the Allen's close relative, a first-year female Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus) which was banded by
Nick Pulcinella in Merion, PA in December of 2007.

    The Allen's Hummingbird is common only in the brushy woods, gardens, and meadows of coastal California from Santa Barbara north, and a minuscule portion of lower
    Oregon. The nominate race of Allen's Hummingbird, S.s. sasin is migratory, and winters along the Pacific coast of central Mexico. A second race S.s. sedentarius is a
    permanent resident on the Channel Islands off southern California. This population colonized the Palos Verdes Peninsula of Los Angeles County in the 1960s and has since
    spread over much of Los Angeles and Orange Counties. (Cornell BNA; Wikpedia)

    Of course, I would like to thank Mrs. Bailey for discovering the bird and planting a garden that attracted the hummingbird in the first place. Also, I would like to thank
    both Mrs. Bailey and the Landis Homes Retirement Community for their hospitality in welcoming birders and picture-takers. I would also like to thank Mrs. Pat Witmer who
    graciously showed us where the bird was roosting this morning as well as describing to us the Allen's recent behavior. And finally, I would like to thank Scott Weidensaul
    for posting the location of the bird and the rules of engagement, etc.

To see a larger image of any of the photos below, please click on either the thumbnails or the captions...thanks!


A-Allen'sHummingbird	B-Allen'sHummingbird	C-Allen'sHummingbird	D-Allen'sHummingbird	E-Allen'sHummingbird

F-Allen'sHummingbird	G-Allen'sHummingbird	H-Allen'sHummingbird	I-Allen'sHummingbird	J-Allen'sHummingbird

K-Allen'sHummingbird	L-Allen'sHummingbird	M-Allen'sHummingbird	N-Allen'sHummingbird	O-Allen'sHummingbird

Howard B. Eskin 2010 Please email your comments to hbeskin@voicenet.com Please click here to go back to Bird Webpage Index