Yesterday was another stay at home day, dreary and drizzly through the early afternoon and, once the clouds moved out, very windy later. I did keep one eye out the front door and had both of the hummers stopping by for infrequent visits to the feeder. The Buff-bellied was seen most often and a lot more than on Monday. Even though I never see them at the same time I can easily tell that this bird is much larger (we're talking ~1/2" or 10-15%) than my other visitor.
One of three Selasphorus species in North America, the only things we know for sure so far are that the bird is a female and she's not a Broad-tailed. The "Sibley Guide" says of S. Sasin (Allen's): "Nearly identical to Rufous; averages slightly smaller with smaller tail and relatively long bill." From this angle the bill looks (proportionally) to be on par with his paintings of S.rufus and, in his paintings as well as some photos I have looked at, the Allen's bill seems to be ever so slightly "decurved" (curves down). She's not been fanning her tail and, from what I have seen, that may be the only way to tell for certain as there are some distinct differences between the two species (of course I would have to get an image of that, too. . .). For now, given range and the bill part of the equation, I'm fairly confident in going with "Rufous" (though certainly open to other interpretations).
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