[obol] Mt. Hebo green and white hummingbird.

[Roy Gerig]

Teresa and I camped on top of Mt. Hebo (Tillamook County) the night of July 
4, after watching fireworks in 3 locations through binoculars.  Yesterday 
morning, July 5, Teresa told me about a hummingbirds that she had seen very 
well at close range.  It had absolutely no rufous or buffy color, just green 
on the back, and very light underneath.  Later, I saw a similar hummingbird 
(the same one?) from the meadow adjacent to where she saw hers,  about 150 
meters away.  It was perched about 20 meters away, a female humminbird seen 
through 10 x 42 binoculars.  It was green backed and light gray underneath, 
with no rufous or buffy color at all on it.  It was silent, and no larger 
than a Rufous Hummingbird of which there were several around.  Both 
sightings were near the northeast end of the top of Mt. Hebo, in meadow 
edges, lots of wildflowers (Lupines, Viola adunca, Sisyrinchium, 
Salmonberry, Vaccinium, and others, at an elevation of about 3100'.

I was not able to ID it with any certainty to rule out any other green and 
light female hummingbird but I believe it was a BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRD.  
It was not large enough for Anna's and did not seem at all like Anna's.  I 
do not know if any Anna's are ever that far away from an urban area, in the 
north Oregon coast range, and I have never seen one in the coast range.  I 
could not see any color in the throat, and it turned to face me so that I 
think I could have seen any color.

Any thoughts on the identity of this bird?

Roy Gerig, Salem OR

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