Tag Archives: rufous

Rufous Versus Anna’s Hummingbirds

We have plenty of hummingbirds visiting our back yard.  They may look different depending on the angle the light hits their feathers but up until recently I had thought that they were all the same species – the Anna’s hummingbird.  Then we got a visitor that seemed different.  First, instead of having a grey look to the feathers, it was a lot more brown.  The other difference was the sound of the wingbeats.  Instead of the whirring noise we were used to, this one had a higher pitched sound almost like a click as the wings were hitting each other.  It sounded quite distinctive.  I trip to my big book of birds suggests that these may be Rufous hummingbirds.  For the birders amongst you, I hope you will advise if I am mistaken.