[obol] Costa’s - Anna's Discussion; Or: “Costa’s and me”

[bill clemons]

I had a Costa’s in Lake Oswego.

I have very much enjoyed the written exchange as a
result of the single photo (so far) of a perched
hummingbird in Mary Goranson’s yard in Lake Oswego.  

I am also learning from this exchange, thank you very
much, and hope it continues with the aid of added
photos.

On Friday November 17th I watched a male Costa’s
Hummingbird in Lake Oswego at the residence of Don
McMahon, who, among other things is a birder and bird
artist (http://www.birdsonthings.com).  Don lives next
door to Mary Goranson, whose feeders hummingbirds are
frequenting.

I could be a better birder, but I am not.
I could pay more attention to details, but I do not.
I could be better at bird calls, but I am not.
I could take photos, but I do not.
I could be more learned, but I am not.
I could do a lot of things that I do not.


“Costa’s and me”:

I had a Costa’s in Lake Oswego.

There are a lot of things I could be and do, but am
not or do not.
  
However, in reasonable light, even with short
iridescent flashes of gorgets and/or crowns, I can
discern a significant difference between brilliant
iridescent ruby-red and a beautiful iridescent
violet-purple when it comes to at least these two
colors.  This discernment is made easier when both
colors are seen within seconds of each other and
several times within minutes.  It is a very small
feat; one I trust could be replicated by most anyone. 

I cannot say what bird the single photo posted so far
is of.
I cannot say the Sunday photo is the Costa’s I saw on
Friday.
What I can say is that on my monitor, I see hints of
violet-purple. 
Evident on my monitor (and in my brief Sunday visit),
is a faint whitish “eyebrow.” 
The odds of there being both a Hybrid Costa’s-x-Anna’s
(the discussed photo) and a pure Costa’s in the same
yard on the same November weekend is probably
extremely low. 

Pure or hybrid, it matters not to me, but what I saw
was absolutely Not an Anna's.

On Friday Don and I heard a frequent clicking call
from the defending Costa’s. 
On Friday there was never more than a single Anna’s at
one time, and the Costa’s was assertively guarding the
feeders and running any Anna’s off.  
The Costa’s ran off a male Anna’s at least three times
while I was there on Friday, and each time you could
clearly see at least a brief flash of bright color
from each bird involved in the chase. There was a
marked difference between the gorget coloration of the
chaser and that of the chasee. We also had solo views
of the Costa's with and without the iridescence
showing, both perched and hovering.

The bird Don McMahon and I saw on Friday, and that has
been in his and his neighbor’s yard most of November
is most assuredly wearing a purple gorget. It is not
at all red, and therefore cannot be a pure Anna’s. 
Therefore it is either a purple Costa’s or a purple
hybrid (which I know no details of). 

I had a Costa’s in Lake Oswego.

Bill Clemons
SW of Portland in Mtn Park
Willclemons AT Yahoo.com


 
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