[obol] Anna's X Rufous Hummingbird hybrid at Skinner Butte

[DAVID IRONS]

Greetings All,

As I posted earlier, a hybrid Anna's X Rufous Hummingbird was discovered today at Skinner Butte.  The bird is acting in a very territorial manner right near the parking area.  From the parking area walk west about 50' or so on the paved path along the south side of the meadow.  For best viewing, stop just east of the single cedar tree on your left just after you pass the big clump of bushes (I think it is mostly hawthorn) just as you start west on the path.  From the cedar tree look directly south and you will see a decent sized mostly dead deciduous tree covered with lots of ivy.  The top has three or four main forks that are all dead and leafless.  The hummingbird spent nearly an hour perching on the tops of the ends these dead-topped branches.  It also did multiple display flights above this tree and sing at least twice while perched at the top of this tree.  Vjera and Eddie Thompson describe seeing a strange hummer using the same perches yesterday. They surely saw the same bird based on Vjera's report to me.  

This is a very interesting bird, and thus far our searches for other records of this cross have produced just one published report.  Incredibly, Larry McQueen dug up some old photos (from 1997) that he took of a hummer he believed was this same cross.  He sent me the photos, his bird was very similar to this individual.  The combined evidence contained in photos I took and Barry McKenzie's excellent video frame grabs strongly support the conclusion (arrived at while watching this bird in the field) that this bird is a Anna's X Rufous hybrid.  We will be writing an article about this record and wish to support it with the best photo documentation possible.  I have a modest digital camera set up and Barry was using a digital video camera through his scope.  John Sullivan and Maitreya also took pictures, but I have yet to see their results.  If you are one of those folks who has professional level camera gear and you want to get your name in lights, I would encourage you to get out and capture some images of this bird. 

Dave Irons
Eugene, OR 



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