First Idaho Broad-billed Hummingbird -- Canyon County, Idaho

FIRST IDAHO STATE RECORD
(Pending acceptance by the Idaho Bird Records Committee)

BROAD-BILLED HUMMINGBIRD -- Cynanthus latirostris

16-20 May 2004, Caldwell, Canyon County


Fig. 1: There is really no mistaking the head of an adult male Broad-billed Hummingbird! The red base of the bill and the blue throat are striking, the latter more so in good light!	Fig. 2: The green back and the dark blue/slate tail are other nice features of the adult male Broad-billed. The wide (broad) red base of the bill is visible here as well.

DETAILS:

Shortly after 8 AM on Monday, 17 May 2004, I received a personal email from Cheryl Huizinga (who had seen one of my recent hummingbird presentations for SIBA bird club) alerting me to a possible male Broad-billed Hummingbird at their feeder. She had seen it briefly on Sunday (16 May) and then very well earlier on Monday morning.

With Cheryl's permission, I arrived at the Huizinga residence around 1 PM that morning to confirm, band and document this bird. It had not been seen in her yard since around 10 AM. Cheryl removed the five feeders in the adjacent neighbors' yards so the bird would come to her feeder, which it did at 1:50 PM. It quickly entered my wire cage trap containing a feeder and was easily captured. We had it in hand just a few minutes, but took the following measurements and several photos. Then we gave it a drink of sugar-water from a feeder, which it took as expected. After the bird was released, the neighbor's feeders were immediately returned, and the bird was not seen in Cheryl's yard the rest of the day. However, one of the neighbors reported that she saw the bird at her feeder the next morning (Tuesday, 18 May) and throughout the day. Interestingly, this neighbor is convinced that TWO identical hummingbirds were present at the same time at the same feeder on one occasion. I remain skeptical. Cheryl confirmed the presence of one Broad-billed at that neighbor's feeder at approximately 5 PM on 18 May. It was seen by additional observers at that feeder later that evening. To my knowledge, it was last observed on Thursday morning, 20 May 2004.

VISUAL OBSERVATIONS: This bird was bulkier and longer-tailed than adult male Black-chinned Hummingbirds which came in to feed during our observation periods. It also had a striking red bill with blackish tip (see photos). In flight, the entire bird appeared dark, except for whitish undertail coverts. The back was bronze-green, reminiscent of the back of Black-chinned Hummingbirds (see photos). The tail appeared all dark in flight but showed soft pale terminal bands in hand (see photos). The gorget was striking blue set off by a metallic green head with a spot of white behind the eye (see photos). It's vocalizations were distinctive and are what first alerted me to it's presence on the Huizinga deck. It also vocalized extensively when it was released after banding. The books describe the sound as a kinglet-like chatter, and I would have to agree. It's raspier and "drier" than Black-chinned vocalizations.

BANDING DATA

Adult male (AHY = After Hatch Year)
zero bill corrugations (useful for possibly aging as SY [Second Year] vs AHY)
code 1 fat (scale of 0-4 => presence of some furcular fat, but well below level of chest cavity)
culmen length: 20.65 mm
wing cord: 50.86 mm
tail length: 33.5 mm
mass: 3.8 g
overall health: The bird appeared healthy with no missing wing or tail feathers, no molt, no mites or other parasites, and no obvious injuries.

PATTERNS OF VAGRANCY

This species is suprisingly nomadic for a bird generally considered abundant within it's US range only in southeastern Arizona. Records exist from as far away as New Brunswick and Ontario, Canada, with US records from Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, and many other states (see map below; small dots indicate single records, larger dots and squares indicate progressively more records from that town).

Extralimital Records for Broad-billed Hummingbird
Extralimital Records of Broad-billed Hummingbird in North America
Map from www.trochilids.com

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