Is there a yellow-breasted hummingbird (5 Viewers)

[Travlr]

On March 18 and 19 multiple up-close sightings
were made by four sober people of a yellow-breasted
hummingbird, somewhat larger than our ruby-throated
variety. I have not been able to find anything even
remotely close in my books.

He visited the same feeder several times both days,
taking long drinks. The color was bright yellow but
my wife noted that it looked a little orange to her when
he turned sideways in the bright sunlight, but agrees it
was a bright yellow in direct sun.

I now have a camera ready but he did not show up yesterday
nor so far today, March 21.

Location: Pensacola, Florida

Any ideas???

I'm in the middle of Utah and we are at the end of the fall migration, and several days ago we saw two hummers with bright green backs, much like most hummers, and definite yellow breasts. They were not yellow from pollen. They hung around for a couple of days and then gone.

 

[rkj]

This is surely not what you saw, but in answer to the question "Is there a yellow-breasted hummingbird" this video might be of interest:

 

[Travlr]

This is surely not what you saw, but in answer to the question "Is there a yellow-breasted hummingbird" this video might be of interest:

Nope, not what I saw... But that's a very interesting bird in the video. Where is their native range?

 

[rkj]

Nope, not what I saw... But that's a very interesting bird in the video. Where is their native range?

Nowhere; this bird is believed to have been a one-of-a-kind hybrid.

 

[Travlr]

Nowhere; this bird is believed to have been a one-of-a-kind hybrid.

I was wondering about that with the first yellow breasted hummer I saw... but then there were two.

 

[peterginsburg]

Strictly speaking AFAIK there are no yellow-breasted hummingbirds in the world. At certain lights in certain angles the gorget can appear yellowish. The only one I know of whose gorget often reflects yellow is the Ruby-topaz which exists nowhere near the USA. Also the gorget is generally not considered part of the breast but at times its extension down to that area could be confusing.
Peter

 

[THE_FERN]

Strictly speaking AFAIK there are no yellow-breasted hummingbirds in the world. At certain lights in certain angles the gorget can appear yellowish. The only one I know of whose gorget often reflects yellow is the Ruby-topaz which exists nowhere near the USA. Also the gorget is generally not considered part of the breast but at times its extension down to that area could be confusing.
Peter

An interesting question is "why isn't yellow a more common colour for hummingbird?" Ruby-topaz shows it's possible and many other birds make a "feature" of yellow in their plumage

 

[Travlr]

Strictly speaking AFAIK there are no yellow-breasted hummingbirds in the world. At certain lights in certain angles the gorget can appear yellowish. The only one I know of whose gorget often reflects yellow is the Ruby-topaz which exists nowhere near the USA. Also the gorget is generally not considered part of the breast but at times its extension down to that area could be confusing.
Peter

Well that's why I'm posting... I might have thought it was pollen or a "certain light" except the birds (plural) roosted in several places and in different lights and the coloring was consistent between the two and covered the entire belly.

 

[Travlr]

I've got a question about hummers. Being in the migration rush we are seeing a lot of birds passing through and a couple have had their tongues sticking out and seem unable to retract them. I'm of the opinion that they are probably coming from places where someone neglected to clean their feeders and the birds have swollen tongues due to moldy water.

So the question. Do these birds survive? Will they do better once they are exposed to a cleaner food source? What's the prognosis?

 

[njlarsen]

Strictly speaking AFAIK there are no yellow-breasted hummingbirds in the world. At certain lights in certain angles the gorget can appear yellowish. The only one I know of whose gorget often reflects yellow is the Ruby-topaz which exists nowhere near the USA. Also the gorget is generally not considered part of the breast but at times its extension down to that area could be confusing.
Peter

A second one:
https://ebird.org/species/blbtho1 (Black-backed Thornbill)
Niels

 

[rkj]

A second one:
https://ebird.org/species/blbtho1 (Black-backed Thornbill)
Niels

Earlier in this tread I posted a link to a video and was remiss in not pointing our that the bird in that video had a yellow gorget, not a yellow breast. The Black-backed Thornbill similarly has a yellow gorget, not a yellow breast.

 

[qwerty5]

Well that's why I'm posting... I might have thought it was pollen or a "certain light" except the birds (plural) roosted in several places and in different lights and the coloring was consistent between the two and covered the entire belly.

Did you get photos? That would be a big help for people on here to figure out what's going on.

 

[Travlr]

Did you get photos? That would be a big help for people on here to figure out what's going on.

Yeah, if I had pics they would be posted. I ran for my phone a couple of times but by the time I got back... gone. And the birds only stuck around a couple of days. Thought I saw another on Sunday but it was just a flash in my peripheral vision and by the time I did a double take it was gone too.