For the very first time in the Wind River Canyon we will have four different species of Hummingbirds nesting in this isolated ecosystem of Wyoming; there were only two species of the little hummers nesting in the Wind River Canyon fifteen years ago!  We right now have these four species at our feeders and eating our bugs:

1) Rufous Hummingbird - these are the most aggressive and territorial of the Hummingbirds; they're the color of tigers, and it fits their personality perfectly.  The males always arrive the first week of July; but they were a week early this year.  The Gorget (throat) feathers are a brilliant orange, but this will range in color depending on lighting: this is the very complicated science of iridescence and will be explained later in this blog (as best as a Sheldon can explain this type of Physics to me).

2) Calliope Hummingbird - These hummers are the smallest birds in North America, and they're Calliope Hummingbird, Male, Wind River Canyon, WyomingHummingbirds of the Wind River Canyon, Wyoming my personal favorite.  The streaked Gorget bars are red but can range in color to a magenta.  The Calliope is a more shy bird that takes loads of patience to get a photograph, as all Hummingbirds inevitably will.

3) Black-chinned Hummingbird - Last year was the first time this species nested in the Wind River Canyon due to the fires in southern Colorado; they're back and nesting as you read this.  The Gorget on the male appears midnight black until the light is just at the perfect angle, then pow! a violet band appears at his lower black throat.  Their courtship display is a fast back and forth flight that is not confused with anything else in nature.  My portrait of a female won first place at the Cody Art Show this year! but the male has proven to be an allusive photo subject so far....but we see them many times every day.

4)  Broad-tailed Hummingbird - This was a big surprise for me this year, as we always saw them, Broad-Tailed Hummingbird, Wind River Canyon, WyomingHummingbirds of the Wind River Canyon, Wyoming. but they never stayed in the Wind River Canyon; I'd always hoped they would stay and nest in this magical Canyon, and this year seems like it's happening.  They're Gorget sometimes appears black, but with a snap of the head it turns a brilliant red!  These hummers are easy to identify by their size (bigger than the others) and the emerald green back feathers; and their large tail will move up and down during hovering.  Their display is one of Mother Nature's truly spectacular events: the male will shoot himself straight up seventy feet or more, then dive straight down at warp speed at whatever it's angry at....a hummer, a bird, a dog or cat, or you or me.  These are the largest of the Hummingbirds you will see in Wyoming; no bigger than your thumb.  

     The females of these four different species of Hummingbird can be told apart with difficulty, albeit with a lot of practice and reading.  The Rufous female is green backed with streaks of rufous Rufous Hummingbird, "female in flight" Wind River Canyon, WYHummingbirds of the Wind River Canyon, Wyoming color (sometimes) and a small Gorget, but the immature male appears nearly the same except for the R2 tail feathers; which are impossible to see except in photographs.  The Calliope Hummingbird female is smaller, greener, whiter, no Gorget, did I say smaller? with a little blue mixed in the green.  The Black-chinned female is much like the Rufous, only slightly smaller with a darker grey by the back of their eyes and no reflective Gorget markings: the Broad-tailed female is nearer the female Rufous, but greener and larger still.

Black-chinned Hummingbird, female, Wind River Canyon, Wyoming - 1st Place 2014 Cody Art ShowBlack-chinned Hummingbird, Wind River Canyon, Wyoming-Winner of 1st Place Award 2014 Cody Art Show!     If the above short description seems like the females are seemingly the same, it's because to our human eyes they appear so close in appearance; only male Hummingbirds need to tell the female Hummingbirds apart, after all.  So I read and study photographs (mine and in books) to try and tell the females apart from one another; and after fifteen years it still isn't easy.

     The most striking feature of Hummingbirds are their amazingly magical iridescent feathers.  The science and physics of iridescence is a nightmare to understand....so here goes; the feathers have a clear layer that lets in the light or reflects it, this in turn is reflected or absorbed by a lower Rufous Hummingbird, "Rufous In-Flight" Wind River Canyon, WYRufous Hummingbird of the Wind River Canyon, Wyoming. layer that has encapsulated air pockets; the physics of interference coloration (some colors cancel each other out, some reflected back by different wave lengths causes the change in coloration) means that you will see all the colors of the rainbow in one Hummingbird species or other, yet with a small change in angle by you, the Sun or the Hummingbird the feathers will go black!  And if you look closely, you will notice that the male's Gorget feathers appear to resemble the platelet scales of a fish; think about that observation for a while and what it means.  

     Because space in a blog means I cannot post all the photographs I'd like to, please peruse my website Hummingbird Gallery @ HogbatsPhotography.com/hummingbirds for more photographs of these colorful and magical creatures.