What hummingbird is this??????

[Paulyoly]

I thought this was a ruby throated, but looking at the pic it looks like a black chin. When he lifts his head up i see orange-red feathers which is not common with a black chinned right?

[Tammie]

Depends on how the light hits them. I only get ruby throats here and sometimes their throat has appeared a bright orange if the sun hits just the right way.

[KCFoggin]

These guys can be very confusing under different lighting situations but I would venture to say it is the ruby throat. It's a wonderful photo Paul.

[Paulyoly]

Originally posted by KCFoggin
These guys can be very confusing under different lighting situations but I would venture to say it is the ruby throat. It's a wonderful photo Paul.

You would not think it wonderful if you saw the original, on second thought here is the original, i had to use gamma(not sure what that means) and brighten the hell out of this shot, but it was necessary to get a shot without blur, shot with 1/30th of a second shutter speed with pentax pf80ed and cp990, very shaddy in my backyard.

Unfortunately brightening the photo this much also makes the noise more apparent, tommorrow is another day as they say and i have the day off so expect some better hummers.

After searching the net i believe it is a ruby throated, definately showed red at times just not when i push the shutter button3:-)

[IanF]

I couldn't pass judgement as to which it is, but it is certainly a superb photo. You did a great job in adjusting it.

[Paulyoly]

Originally posted by IanF
I couldn't pass judgement as to which it is, but it is certainly a superb photo. You did a great job in adjusting it.

thanks Ian, i'm simply using the free software that came with my first digital camera(Olympus c3020), which is where my name derived. I want to get photoshop elements or some other simple software that has more options, like a clone tool would be nice since i have a couple stuck pixels.

[KCFoggin]

After looking at the before and after photos, I would give you even more credit for the initial one that you posted. Lightening a photo w/o a lot of noise is tough

[shykra]

The trick to telling the difference between the Black-chinned and the Ruby-throat is how the wing feathers rest in comparison with the tail feathers when the bird is perched. I can't remember which one it is but one bird’s wing extends past the tail and the other doesn't. I wish I had my US Bird Guides with me so I could tell you for sure what this is, but Sibley’s gives you a great comparison between the two. Let me know if you get the answer.

[Michael Frankis]

Yep, Sibley points out that on Ruby-throat, the tail projects well beyond the wings (as in this photo), whereas Black-chinned the wings extend as far as the tail tip.

So Ruby-throated it is.

When I've seen male Ruby-throats (even had them perch on my finger in TX!), the red only shows at certain angles, most of the time it just looks black, like here.

Michael