West Coast ‘vagrant’ welcomed here
By Kathryn Carse
November 04, 2009, 3:37PM
Photo courtesy of Eva Callahan
Rufous hummingbird is spotted outside Staten Islander Howie Fischer’s house in Stapleton.STAPLETON -- A
vagrant landed in Howie Fischer‘s back yard one recent Saturday afternoon. This is not normally a welcome
occasion. But Fischer was thrilled and immediately put the word out; soon after, folks began arriving at his
Stapleton home as if royalty had landed.
The unexpected visitor is a selasphorus — Rufous and Allen — hummingbird. A common inhabitant of the
West Coast, it was far off its migratory trail between Alaska and Mexico. In birding circles, that qualified it as
a vagrant. The Rufous and Allen hummingbirds, nearly indistinguishable, both turn up frequently in the East;
however this was a first sighting on Staten Island.
The birds could have been here before, but if this bird wanted to make it official, it couldn’t have picked a
better back yard. Fischer, a science teacher at Bernstein Intermediate School in Huguenot, has been birding
since he was a teen and is a dedicated enthusiast, leading
walks through the year, including one that morning at Conference House Park.
“I noticed right away it was different and not a Ruby-throated hummingbird,” said Fischer. One tip-off was
the bird’s cinnamon (or rufous) tail.
If you have seen a hummingbird on Staten Island, it’s likely a Ruby-throated one. This year, local birders
have commented on the unusual numbers seen at feeders and flowers.
So small is the hummingbird, that it can easily be mistaken momentarily for a big insect. If its movement
doesn’t attract attention, its whirring — or humming — wings will.
With its characteristically long thin beak, used to probe tubular flowers for nectar, the hummingbird can fly
forward and back with its quickly beating wings.
Most hummers have some iridescent feathers and like a jewel, the bird’s colors seem to change with the
light. Many of the males also sport a gorget, that in spring appears to be a brilliantly colored little chain
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