Tail, Dorsal

Check out these bird identification images:

Tail, Dorsal


Image by Velo Steve
Detail photos for identification purposes. This bird was alive but unable to fly yesterday and was found dead this morning.

It’s either a Rufous or Allen’s Hummingbird. Distinguishing features include:
1) Back color, but the Rufous back color can vary between rufous and green.
2) Wing length (40.6mm, Rufous; 38.1, Allen’s), but ornithologists apparently have at least 3 ways of measuring wing length.
3) Width of "rectix 5", the outer tail feather (2.6mm, Rufous; 1.7mm, Allen’s). In my photos, the width seems close to 3mm, suggesting Rufous.

References
Back color and other dimensions:
elibrary.unm.edu/sora/wb/v30n02/p0086-p0093.pdf
Wing measurements:
findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3793/is_200407/ai_n9456688

Back Color


Image by Velo Steve
Detail photos for identification purposes. This bird was alive but unable to fly yesterday and was found dead this morning.

It’s either a Rufous or Allen’s Hummingbird. Distinguishing features include:
1) Back color, but the Rufous back color can vary between rufous and green.
2) Wing length (40.6mm, Rufous; 38.1, Allen’s), but ornithologists apparently have at least 3 ways of measuring wing length.
3) Width of "rectix 5", the outer tail feather (2.6mm, Rufous; 1.7mm, Allen’s). In my photos, the width seems close to 3mm, suggesting Rufous.

References
Back color and other dimensions:
elibrary.unm.edu/sora/wb/v30n02/p0086-p0093.pdf
Wing measurements:
findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3793/is_200407/ai_n9456688

Tags:Dorsal, Tail