Fun hummingbird day

Today was a scheduled banding day at CMO. We took down or covered up all the feeders except the ones inside the traps. While the hummers generally ignore the flowers in favor of the feeders, most all have been previously trapped and banded, so they decided to favor the flowers today. I couldn't resist the photo op. Here are a couple that I snapped at the anisacanthus, male and female Lucifers.

But the highlight of the day was a hybrid Lucifer/Black-chinned. In July of 2011 the bird was first banded as a recently fledged bird. Kelly's notes read,  "Hybrid? slightly decurved bill and strong rufous on lower flanks.  Tail missing."  The missing tail  made it even harder to determine what species it was.  Well, when Kelly caught it today, as an adult male, he immediately noticed a black bib under the chin that a Lucifer never has, but otherwise it had a Lucifer gorget. The measurements produced other characteristics of both species. (Photos by Kelly Bryan with his permission.)