[Birdtalk] Re: Birdtalk Digest, Vol 20, Issue 4

Fri Aug 3 14:59:07 MDT 2007

Thanks Bill and Marjean for your additional hummer info.
 A couple years ago we had a very dominant male Rufous take charge of our 
feeder for over a month. He was the most shimmery copper color I've ever 
seen. A gorgeous bird.
The last couple of days we've seen a hummer that I suspected was a Rufous, 
I'm thinking it's a female because there's only a little of the coppery 
color on its (her) back and the tail is rounded. Behavior-wise, it is VERY 
territorial and feisty.
This cooler weather has brought quite a few hummers to our feeders.
Linda (Pleasant Grove)

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <birdtalk-request at utahbirds.org>
To: <birdtalk at utahbirds.org>
Sent: Friday, August 03, 2007 1:50 PM
Subject: Birdtalk Digest, Vol 20, Issue 4

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> Today's Topics:
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>   1. Re: Hummingbirds -  Rufous (MarJean Muhlestein)
>   2. The Universal Laws of Birding (Steve Coleman)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Fri, 3 Aug 2007 12:36:08 -0600
> From: "MarJean Muhlestein" <wingsnwind at msn.com>
> Subject: Re: [Birdtalk] Hummingbirds -  Rufous
> To: <Pooder at xmission.com>, "BirdTalk" <birdtalk at utahbirds.org>
> Message-ID: <BAY118-DAV10582613A358A8D214C990DBEA0 at phx.gbl>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> For the last week or so I have been getting the Rufous hummers at my 
> feeders. They are a joy to watch scrap it out around the feeders with the 
> Black-chinned, and Broad-tailed. I haven't seen any males as yet, unless 
> they are juvenile, and harder for me to ID against the females. The 
> unmistakable copper penny color of the entire bird is hard to miss in the 
> adult males. I have been getting many females and juveniles. As Bill 
> mentioned, the rufous on the tail, and up into the back is a good ID. The 
> tail is rounded when it spreads out.  I also like to look at the throat 
> pattern. It usually is well defined, and a large red/dark pink dot in the 
> center. Enjoy your hummers folks, the little jewels are here for a moment, 
> and then they are gone all toooo soooon.
>
> MarJean M.
> "Oh the Joy of Birding"
>  ----- Original Message ----- 
>  From: M. H. Wallace<mailto:Pooder at xmission.com>
>  To: BirdTalk<mailto:birdtalk at utahbirds.org>
>  Sent: Thursday, August 02, 2007 8:58 PM
>  Subject: [Birdtalk] Hummingbirds - Rufous
>
>
>  This evening, as the thunderstorm abated and the rainbows came out, I 
> have had a few Rufous Hummingbirds at my feeders.  I can't get good enough 
> photos to determine if their tails are notched, so I can't say they are 
> not Allen's, although Sibley shows their range as not extending into 
> northern Utah/Salt Lake County, whereas Rufous' range does certainly 
> extend to our region.  With the brilliant orange colors, not just on the 
> tails but over considerable portions of the tail, body and chin, there is 
> no mistake that these are Rufous, or slightly possibly Allen's, 
> Hummingbirds.  (If you want to post your thoughts on the possibility of 
> Allen's, I'd welcome that...I'll leave that to those of you who know more 
> than I.  I may be avid, but I'm no expert...)  Of course, the Rufous' and 
> the Black-chinned Hummers were competing for space, chasing each other 
> off.
>
>  I was on the Henry's Fork of the Snake River, near Mack's Inn, Idaho on 
> Saturday, July 28.  My family was paddling down river in canoes, when a 
> furious hail storm hit.  A very nice couple beckoned us to the shelter of 
> their porch.  Alas, they had hummingbird feeders up.  While we were 
> waiting out the storm, under their porch, I saw several Rufous 
> Hummingbirds at there feeders too.  This couple told me that they have so 
> many Hummers that they fill their two quart-sized feeders daily.
>
>  So, there are Rufous Hummingbirds in Salt Lake County and southwest of 
> West Yellowstone this Summer.
>
>  Matthew Wallace
>  East Millcreek, Salt Lake County
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> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Fri, 3 Aug 2007 13:45:16 -0600
> From: "Steve Coleman" <scoleman at utah.gov>
> Subject: [Birdtalk] The Universal Laws of Birding
> To: birdtalk at utahbirds.org
> Message-ID: <20070803T134516Z_6A28000A0000 at utah.gov>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> I thought you might enjoy these, they were sent to me by a non-birding 
> friend
>
> The Optimist's Constant: Birds have wings, and no one has told them when 
> or where they should be.
> The Pessimist's Corollary: When birds use their wings, your timing or 
> location will be wrong.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Sacrificial Lamb Law - The bird will be seen by others only after you, as 
> the sacrificial lamb, leave.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Sitting in the Woods Corollary - The bird will be seen by others only 
> after you have snuck into the woods to take care of biological 
> responsibilities.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Resnick's Variation - The bird will show up only when you go into a snack 
> bar to get some nice hot chocolate on a bitter cold day.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Theorem of Diminishing Returns - The longer you look for a bird, the less 
> likely you will find it.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Hoffman's Corollary - The further you travel to see a particular bird, the 
> less likely you are to find it.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Arie's Nemesis Theory - If you don't see the bird within a certain amount 
> of tries, it becomes insulted and deliberately avoids you from then on.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Gilbert's Wishful Thinking Hypothesis - This takes place by casually 
> mentioning a bird and then the bird shows up.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Frazier's Law No. 1 - The bird will only come out after you have begun to 
> leave. Sometimes you can trick the bird into coming out by loudly 
> announcing that you are leaving and starting to move in that direction. 
> Note, at the end of a day of waiting, combining the Sacrificial Lamb Rule 
> with Frazier's Law No. 1 can overcome the Theorem of Diminishing Returns.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Ann's Assumption - Never assume the bird line has been updated. Just 
> because the bird's not been reported doesn't necessarily mean it's left 
> the country!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Hoffman's Law - You may look for a particular bird for 20 years without 
> finding it, but once you DO find it you find them everywhere. They turn up 
> in your driveway, on your porch, EVERYwhere. They suddenly become 
> robin-like in their numbers.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Bangma's Observation - You will learn more about the variation in Herring 
> Gulls in 30 minutes of looking for a Thayer's than you will in a lifetime 
> of looking at Herrings.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Paulson's First Law - Common species are more common than rare ones.
>
> Paulson's Second Law - Well-known birds appear to vary more than poorly 
> known ones.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Arlis's Technobirder Triangulation Conundrum - The probability of a 
> technobirder finding an important bird is directly proportional to the 
> triangulated distance between subject, human, and camera.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> New Birder's Theorem - The probability of an unknown bird possessing a 
> very distinctive identifying field mark is directly proportional to the 
> amount of time he spends posing for 
> you. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Field Mark Tendencies Scenario - Whenever you are out birding without a 
> fieldguide and see a new bird, the fieldmark you think is the important 
> one is never the important one. The bird always flies before you can look 
> at the important one. If there is an important field mark, the bird never 
> lets you see it. If the bird sits there all day and lets you look at all 
> its field marks, it is not a rare bird.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Wilson's Law of the Gainfully Employed - Rare birds reported on the tape 
> on Wednesday are usually gone by Saturday.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Arie's Photographic Anomaly - Your best photographic opportunities will 
> occur when you leave the camera behind.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Bird Watcher's Digest Rules of Hawk Identification
>
> Rule No. 1 - It's a Red-tailed Hawk.
> Rule No. 2 - It's a Red-tailed Hawk.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The Warbler Corollary - It's a Redstart
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Ian's Irony - The bird will always be between the birder and the sun.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Bangma's Photographic Absolute - The lens you have with you is never long 
> enough.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Elizabeth's Consideration - The bird that you struggle through difficult 
> terrain, endure multiple injuries and screw up your schedule for, will be 
> waiting for you above your car in the parking lot.
>
> Pamela's Considerate Corollary - When one non-birder stays behind in the 
> car while the birders go on an expedition for a target bird, the 
> non-birder will report having had wonderful looks at the bird when 
> everyone returns.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Norm's Photographic Observations
>
> If you see a bird you don't recognize and photograph it for later 
> identification, all the key characteristics will be obscure.
>
> All small, nervous, flighty birds have an innate ability to feel photons 
> reflected from their body being focused on a viewing screen and move 
> instantly.
>
> Otherwise outstanding portraits of birds will show the nictitating 
> membrane in use.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Elrick's Hypothesis - If there are two or more birds in a tree and one is 
> a rarity, the only one you can't see is the rarity.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Sosensky's 1st Law - Dull birds with difficult plumage are always seen on 
> overcast days.
>
> Sosensky's 2nd Law - The active foragers are always in the canopy or the 
> back of the tree.
>
> Sosensky's 3rd Law - Woodpeckers and creepers spend more time on the far 
> side of the trunk.
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Sosenky's Theory of Optical Availability - Birds are most visible when 
> your binoculars are down.
>
> Field Guide Corollary - The bird is most visible when you look in your 
> field guide and least visible when you go back to look for the next field 
> mark.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The "YSHBH Syndrome" - Upon arriving at the site of a bird reported on the 
> RBA and finding a group of birders already there you will be told "You 
> Should Have Been Here xx minutes ago. The bird just flew."
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The Transubstantiation Phenomenon -- The ability of many rare birds to 
> change their appearance into that of a common bird in the amount of time 
> between your spotting them in a tree with your naked eye and raising your 
> binoculars to look at them. An evolutionary holdover from the days of 
> collecting.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The Inverse Distance Waterfowl Law -- The rarer the duck or goose, the 
> further from shore it will be. On an enclosed body of water, it will 
> always be on the diametrically opposite shore from you and this shore will 
> always be private land or otherwise inaccessible.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The Weekday Migration Rule -- During spring and fall, all major flights 
> will occur on a weekday.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The Weekend Migration Rule -- In published analyses of arrival and 
> departure dates for any given migration in bird journals it will be found 
> that nearly all birds arrive in the spring on a weekend and depart in the 
> fall on a weekend.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The Luck of the Uninterested Rule -- At any stakeout for a rare bird at 
> which a large number of birders have assembled, one birder will usually 
> have dragged along an uninterested, non-birding friend or relative. The 
> non-birder almost inevitably will be the one who looks the other way or 
> wanders off and finds the sought after bird.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Theory of Canine Disturbance - Nice flock of birds awaiting detailed study 
> and enjoyment....by dog
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The Lister's Geographic Difficulty - The best birds are always on the 
> other side of the dividing line for the area you're keeping track 
> of...refuge, park, state, country, continent, etc.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Blinn's Moving Car Observance - If a small brown bird flies across the 
> road, it's a Song Sparrow.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> AJ's Thermodynamic Constant - The number of species seen in winter is 
> proportional to the temperature. The constant varies.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Theory of Birding Locations - There it is - There it goes.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The Scope Location Absolute - If you need the scope, it's in your trunk. 
> If you don't need it, it's on your shoulder.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The Top Gun Defense - Birds can sense "Optics Lock" and take evasive 
> action.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Outhouse Observation - Interesting birds always show up around an outhouse 
> during a field trip. Particularly when you've just entered.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The Western Rules of Hawk Identification
>
> Rule No. 1 - It's a Raven.
> Rule No. 2 - It's a Red-tailed Hawk.
> Rule No. 3 - It is NOT a Golden Eagle.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The Yurchenco Distance Vector - The distance you must drive to see a 
> reported rarity is directly proportional to your interest in seeing it. 
> The likelihood of the bird being there is inversely proportional to the 
> distance you have traveled.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The Aircraft Conspiracy - Birds which need to be distinguished by voice 
> only sing when aircraft are overhead.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Grant's Law - The apparent size of the bird I am watching is only that of 
> the species which I think it is.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Sosensky's Exception - If the lens is long enough, the bird will be too 
> close to focus on.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The Hologram Rule of Elevation Displacement - The bird you really want is 
> always in the top of a tree, upslope from your current location.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Rosenban's Dictum - If you get a really good look at it, it's probably a 
> Redstart.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Field Guide Inaccuracy Absolute - There is always an expert in the group 
> who knows more than the field guide about the finer identification points 
> of a given bird.  This applies to every field guide or book ever written 
> and is particularly relevant when the bird is rare.  Frequently, the 
> matter involves "gizz", a meaningless method for someone attempting to get 
> a lifer look.  It should also be mentioned that the aforementioned expert 
> will have NEVER written a field guide.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The Big Sit Consideration - The good birds show up when you have a bagel 
> with cream cheese in your hand.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The Camera Power Conundrum - Bird lands 15 feet away, battery in camera 
> fails.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The Yellowlegs Absolute - If a Lesser Yellowlegs and a Greater Yellowlegs 
> are next to each other, someone will make the comment, "There's a good 
> size comparison."
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Shorebird Viewing Problem - Away from actual seashores, some of the best 
> shorebird locations are also the least scenic or the smelliest.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The Neck-Pain Nuance - If it's a warbler, and it's moving slowly enough to 
> see, it's a Yellow-rumped Warbler.
>
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> End of Birdtalk Digest, Vol 20, Issue 4
> *************************************** 