The Anna’s as it looked in January (Photo by Alex Lamoreaux)
Read some newer info about the identification of this bird.
During the late fall of 2012 it seemed almost as if a western hummingbird invasion was occurring across the eastern states, with hundreds of reports of Rufous Hummingbirds visiting people’s yards in addition to multiple reports of Allen’s, Black-chinned, Calliope, Costa’s, and Anna’s. In November of 2012, an Anna’s Hummingbird was discovered at a home in Newark, Delaware which turned out to be the state’s first record! My friends and I were able to stop by and see the hummingbird on January 2nd, and I posted some photos and info from that day, which you can see at this link. At that time, the bird had already been captured and banded by licensed hummingbird banders, when it was identified as an immature female. Now, six months later, the hummingbird is still being seen and it is anything but the dull, supposed female that it was determined to be originally. Tom Johnson stopped to see the bird on April 1st and took the photos below. As you can see, the little hummer has completely transformed, having molted in a stunning pink gorget and crown! It is now clear that Delaware’s first Anna’s Hummingbird is an immature male. Additional photos taken by Tom can be seen at his Flickr site.
Immature male Anna’s Hummingbird – Newark, DE (Photo by Tom Johnson)
Immature male Anna’s Hummingbird – Newark, DE (Photo by Tom Johnson)