Evan took this shot of a male Anna's Hummingbird at our feeder 12/30/08. Note the strange objects around the bill. Dennis V. has suggested that these look like parasites. After some surfing around on the web, I was leaning toward the possibility that these are hummingbird flower mites.
However, after some sharing of the photos with Mike P. and others more experienced with hummers, it appears these are simply the first gorget feathers of a young male coming into his own.
Hi, Lee. There's actually nothing abnormal in this photo - it's just a "teenage" male going through an awkward stage, with a few ratty-looking juvenile gorget and crown feathers on their way out. Male hummingbirds replace their gorget and crown feathers last, and the molt proceeds roughly from the bottom edge of the gorget to the chin and the hindcrown to the forecrown. This young fella doesn't have much of a chance with the ladies in his current condition, but he'll be as gorgeous as more mature males before the breeding season is too far along.
ReplyDeleteThese feathers do look a bit like the lice we find in the gorgets of hummingbirds, but these parasites are always tucked well into the bases of the feathers, never out in the open like this.