03 | September | 2014 | Texas Tweeties by Bob Zeller

I have discovered that I have never, in my years of posting on this blog, did a post exclusively about hummingbirds. I don’t know why that is, but one possibility is that I have a hard time with the identification of the different birds. Another possible reason is that in my area there is only one dominant hummer; the Black-chinned Hummingbird. And of course, most of them are the dull, unattractive females. So I guess I ignored them most of the time. Oh, did I forget to mention that they are danged hard to photograph, too.

But going back through my photos, I found that I did in fact photograph a few individuals in my travels over the years. I noticed that I did a pretty good job when I decided to give it a try. I am not going to try to tell you that I am an expert on these things. The following photos are for your enjoyment, and if I mis-identified any of them let me know.

Black-chinned Hummingbird

Black-chinned Hummingbird – singing in the rain

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Anna’s Hummingbird

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Black-chinned Hummingbird

Sub-adult Rufous Hummingbird

Black-chinned Hummingbird

And finally an Anna’s Hummingbird resting on Ann’s hand after being banded by Kelly Bryan at Far Flung Outdoor Center, during a banding event. Seconds later it flew off. Ann said she could feel the bird’s little heart beating through her hand.