[Riggomatic]

Helping is always the right choice! Well done!

[jabobby]

My wife rescued an exhausted hummingbird from a local Walmart floor, brought her home, and nursed her to health (took about 30 minutes). This particular pic was soon after she got it home. Poor bird was spent....some time and a spoon full of that nectar sugar stuff and the hummer lady was just fine. Wrong to relocate?....yes, but she would've been shopping cart road kill. At what point does morality overrule letting nature takes its' course?....not a rhetorical question...too many smart people here not to offer a well thought out opinion....I'm just curious. In regards to the hummingbird my wife save...yes I think she did the right thing. Would that little hummer have died?...most definitely....is the hummer likely to fulfill her purpose of making more little hummers?...probably yes. Did my wife disrupt Mother Nature!!!!!!!?

Our very existence is a disruption to nature and wildlife has adapted very well to survive. In my opinion your wife did the most proper thing and I am quite proud of her. And all your deductions are very accurate, that birds life will continue in fine fashion and it would not surprise me that she might remember being rescued by your wife.Perhaps it will return some day for a visit. BTW very good photo to capture her spent condition.

Best Regards, Bob

[Des]

Helping is always the right choice! Well done!

No doubt this was the right choice. Simple. There's no rule that hummers have to die.

There are situations where the choice is more difficult. Our wildlife rescue services get hundreds of calls about young birds that are found on the ground during nesting season. We've found young Galahs, Eastern Rosellas and other birds on the ground. The usual advice is that if they have all their feathers, get them out of any immediate danger (cars, cats, etc) but leave the bird where it is, as the parents are likely to be feeding it and encouraging it to fly.

Newfoundland is the place to be if you want European vagrants. They attract birders from miles around, but it's a matter of opinion as to whether they are "rare and exotic" or "lost and confused"!

The equivalent in Australia are those places in the tropics where vagrants from Asian species turn up (the Kimberley coast, Top End, Cape York, and particularly Ashmore Reef and Christmas Island). They get a lot of birders looking for "lifer" ticks on their list. Species from New Zealand and the Pacific Islands sometimes turn up on the east coast, but the traffic is more the other way because of the prevailing winds. There are a number of NZ species that are thought to have originated in Australia, having crossed 4000kms of open ocean.

[Des]

Here's something very unusual - a wild hybrid parrot that has been visiting our place for the last few months. It appears to be a cross between a Crimson Rosella (Platycercus elegans) and an Eastern Rosella (Platycercus eximius).

It's been coming with a flock of Crimson Rosellas. It has the characteristic red head and blue cheek/throat patch of the Crimson (rather than the white cheek/throat patch of the Eastern), but the wing colours and the yellow underbody are typical of an Eastern. (K-3 + Sigma 400mm f5.6 tele macro.)



By way of comparison, here is an adult Crimson. (K-3 + FA*300 f4.5)


And here is an Eastern. (I don't have a better sample, unfortunately. They are more shy than the Crimsons.) (K-3 + FA*300 f4.5)


I found just a few reports of sightings of similar hybrids in Australia:
Hybrid natives: Crimson rosellas, eastern rosellas spotted cross-breeding in Canberra - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Eastern/Crimson Rosella Breeding | BIRDS in BACKYARDS
Eastern Rosella Hybrid | BIRDS in BACKYARDS

---

Last edited by Des; 09-20-2018 at 12:57 AM.

[jacamar]

Those of you in NE USA and eastern Canada might be interested in this winter's "finch forecast" from the Ontario Field Ornithologists. Apparently we are in for an "irruption year" with birds like Redpolls and Siskins sweeping south due to low cone and tree seed crops up north.

Winter Finch Forecast 2018-2019

OFO also has a great website with lots of information and bird photos.

While these birds show up more often further north where Norm lives it's a long time since I had them on my feeders here in Toronto. In fact I don't have any shots of them from my own back yard, so here's a Redpoll shot from a friend's place up north.



Edit - I discovered this January 2009 shot of a Redpoll, Siskin and Goldfinch, taken in my yard with my old K100D and DA 55-300m lens.



You might want to think about stocking up on sunflower and nyjer seed, cleaning up those old feeders and getting ready to enjoy some winter finch action.

[normhead]

Interesting, right now , the finches have a hard time getting to my feeders because of the grackles. Is there a grackle report?

[jacamar]

Interesting, right now , the finches have a hard time getting to my feeders because of the grackles. Is there a grackle report?

No, but Ron Tozer's book says there are very few grackles in your neighbourhood during the winter months so they should be gone before too long.

[normhead]

No, but Ron Tozer's book says there are very few grackles in your neighbourhood during the winter months so they should be gone before too long.

We had one with a damaged wing stay with us all winter one year, and the next couple years after that, he always stopped in to say hello on his way somewhere else.. We have so many this year he could still be in there with the others. We wouldn't know.

Speaking of Ron, he was officially explaining the Alligator, but all I heard him talk about was birds at loggers day. I feel with the mention of his name I need to provide visual context/ He doesn't always dress like a lumberjack.

[dadipentak]

He doesn't always dress like a lumberjack.

So, he's only part Canadian?

[normhead]

So, he's only part Canadian?

That made everyone in my house laugh.

[jacamar]

And speaking of Alligators, their range doesn't quite extend to the frozen north (otherwise we would have a lot fewer beavers) but it's the name given to a type of tug used in logging that can haul itself overland.

Alligators of Algonquin Park

Should have mentioned that Ron's book is referenced in the finch forecast.

Now I'll go back to primping my plaid shirts for the winter ahead.

[Des]

Now I'll go back to primping my plaid shirts for the winter ahead.

You're only part Canadian too aren't you Steve? Never been called a hoser? :-)

[jacamar]

You're only part Canadian too aren't you Steve? Never been called a hoser? :-)

In Canada they think I'm pure Brit but in UK they think I "talk like a yank", so I guess I'm floundering somewhere in mid-Atlantic.

[jddwoods]

My wife rescued an exhausted hummingbird from a local Walmart floor, brought her home, and nursed her to health (took about 30 minutes). This particular pic was soon after she got it home. Poor bird was spent....some time and a spoon full of that nectar sugar stuff and the hummer lady was just fine. Wrong to relocate?....yes, but she would've been shopping cart road kill. At what point does morality overrule letting nature takes its' course?....not a rhetorical question...too many smart people here not to offer a well thought out opinion....I'm just curious. In regards to the hummingbird my wife save...yes I think she did the right thing. Would that little hummer have died?...most definitely....is the hummer likely to fulfill her purpose of making more little hummers?...probably yes. Did my wife disrupt Mother Nature!!!!!!!?

Absolutely your wife did not disrupt mother nature and all of us who enjoy hummingbirds give her a great big thank you. A hummingbirds normal habitat is not Walmart and when a bird, or any creature is in a dangerous place outside their normal habitat a rescue is justified. It is the same as the many times on a busy road I had to stop and help a turtle get across safely. In the case of birds I applaud your wife for successfully helping the little hummer. Where I live in Delaware we have a bird rescue that covers our tri-state region of Delaware, Pennsylvania and Maryland who are licensed wildlife rehabilitators who can step in when it is beyond what support I can provide.

---------- Post added 09-21-18 at 08:21 PM ----------

Those of you in NE USA and eastern Canada might be interested in this winter's "finch forecast" from the Ontario Field Ornithologists. Apparently we are in for an "irruption year" with birds like Redpolls and Siskins sweeping south due to low cone and tree seed crops up north.

Winter Finch Forecast 2018-2019

OFO also has a great website with lots of information and bird photos.

While these birds show up more often further north where Norm lives it's a long time since I had them on my feeders here in Toronto. In fact I don't have any shots of them from my own back yard, so here's a Redpoll shot from a friend's place up north.



Edit - I discovered this January 2009 shot of a Redpoll, Siskin and Goldfinch, taken in my yard with my old K100D and DA 55-300m lens.



You might want to think about stocking up on sunflower and nyjer seed, cleaning up those old feeders and getting ready to enjoy some winter finch action.

Thanks for providing this information. This corroborates the information we have from our Delmarva Ornithological Society which also calls this to be an irruption year and I should see here in Delaware many birds that we do not see every year including pine siskin, purple finches, redpoll and crossbills. My feeders and camera will be ready for their arrival. Right now my yard is overrun with mourning doves and flocks of grackles.

[monochrome]

I’ve volunteered at our local wild bird sanctuary that specializes in large Raptor rescues and rehabilitations. They handle hundreds of birds annually and no one thinks they’re wrong so to do. Nice to hear a happy hummer ending!