Two different female hummingbirds in Pahrump, Nevada (near Las Vegas) (1 Viewer)

[PJinNV]

Tonight I had two different female hummingbirds on the feeder. I think the one in the first two pics is an Anna's and the one in the second two pics is a Black-Chinned, but I'm not certain. I sure do wish hummingbirds were easier to identify! LOL!

Can anyone confirm or refute either of my guesses?!?!

 

[Tiraya]

I'd agree. Long wings on 2nd one supports black-chinned, while slenderness and dusky colouring supports Anna's on 1st.

 

[PJinNV]

Thank you very much, Silverwolf!!

 

[rkj]

I agree the first two photos show an Anna's Hummingbird. I am not sure about the second two. The grayish underparts and relatively plain face make me think Black-chinned may be right, but the relatively short bill, grayish back, and wingtips reaching beyond the tail tip make me think it may be Costa's Hummingbird.

 

[Tiraya]

I agree the first two photos show an Anna's Hummingbird. I am not sure about the second two. The grayish underparts and relatively plain face make me think Black-chinned may be right, but the relatively short bill, grayish back, and wingtips reaching beyond the tail tip make me think it may be Costa's Hummingbird.

Costa's would explain the relatively short body. Black-chinned is usually a slender bird with a body profile longer than Anna's. Thought something looked funny but I ignored it. I will switch to Costa's for bird 2.

 

[PJinNV]

I found this: "Similar Species The black-chinned is often confused with Anna’s and Costa’s, which are chunkier and proportionately bigger headed, shorter billed, and shorter tailed; lack the narrow inner primaries of Archilochus; and molt wings in summer. Female/immature Anna’s slightly larger; underparts more mottled, including undertail coverts (mostly whitish on black-chinned); throat often with rose-red spots; wags tail infrequently. Female/immature Costa’s slightly smaller; face often plainer; wing tips often fall beyond tail tip at rest (shorter than tip on black-chinned)."

The "Female/immature Anna’s slightly larger" does refute Silverwolf's comment that the blacked-chinned's body profile is longer than the Anna's, IMHO.

While the "Female/immature Costa’s slightly smaller; face often plainer; wing tips often fall beyond tail tip at rest (shorter than tip on black-chinned)" does agree with rkj in regards to the wing tips reaching beyond the tail tip.

OK, so I guess we're still unsure on the second bird then. But it's looking like maybe it's a costa's and not a black-chinned. Oh, this is so confusing and gives me a headache looking at all the pics!! LOL!

I really do appreciate all of your input though!!

 

[Tiraya]

Larger just means larger in size, irrelevant of shape. I was commenting on the profile.

It is pose dependent, but my local black-chinned always stand out as being long and slender compared to Anna's which is often hunched over feeders in comparison. My suggestion was that your bird was too compact for black-chinned (and the more I look at it, the more I agree) so it's still Costa's for me.

 

[PJinNV]

Last night when I was comparing the two, I was also going by the books saying the Anna's is 4" and the black-chinned is 3 1/2"... which is partially how I decided the first one was an Anna's. I certainly didn't mean anything against you in my last comment, Silverwolf and I do understand what you're saying about how they may pose. One of the reasons I thought the second one was a black-chinned was because I found a pic of one online that was sitting in almost the same way as mine and it's size (as compared to the feeder perch) and shape seem the same. I've attached that pic just so you can see what I was looking at. It was getting dark and I had to use my flash when I took the pics of the last one and I'm wondering if that may have skewed it's coloring some. I think the tail feathers vs wing feathers is probably what points to Costa's the most though. I hadn't come across anything last night that made that point. Thank you for your input on my posts, Silverwolf! I certainly appreciate it!

 

[DarkFireFalcon]

I agree with the 2nd bird being a Costa's, with that short tail. As for the first bird, it's an awfully long bill for an Anna's, but plumage wise it does seem more Anna's than Black-chinned like.