maille scarf at the neck.

Fischer called a few key people to spread news of the bird’s sighting, including resident expert Dr. Richard
Veit, ornithologist at the College of Staten Island, and Seth Wollney, public program associate at the Staten
Island Museum, both of whom came by. Wollney, in turn, started the electronic drumbeat — texting local
bird chasers and posting a notice on the SI Naturalist home page.

The rufous and Allen hummingbirds are nearly indistinguishable except for the amount of color in a few tail
feathers, but the consensus is that this is a rufous hummingbird.

By this time of year, the ruby-throated hummingbirds are on their way to Central America where they
winter. Fischer said he always keeps his feeders out after they are gone in the hopes that a West Coast
hummer gone astray will find it.

“Late in the season is when rare hummingbirds show up,” said Fischer.

The arrival of Teddy, so nicknamed for Fischer’s Aunt Theodore with whom he was talking on the phone
when he spotted the bird, was a long awaited reward. In the shadow of Wagner College’s Grymes Hill
campus, his terraced yard is still full of flowers. Fuschia, Texas Dwarf salvia, and bouvardia from Mexico
where the little guy was supposed to be wintering, are closest to sugar-water feeders.

Although it can zip off in a flash, the elegant hummer did not mind being observed from just a few yards
away.

Fischer had visitors all day on a recent Saturday and Sunday afternoon: Cliff Hagen and his two daughters,
Erin and Kate; Ed Johnson, director of science at the Staten Island Museum and his son Zach; Anne Purcell,
Catherine Barron, Matt Savoca, Dave Eib also stopped by.

The bird seemed to favor a butterfly bush and tomato cages as perches, but it also swooped up to lofty tree
branches.

On a recent visit it wasn’t long before we spotted it flitting in an evergreen. Soon enough, though, it was at
the feeder to sip some sugar-water elixir, hovering in full view between sips. A tiny bit of the iridescent red-
orange at its neck that flames out in spring was visible.

“It’s not usual for something totally new to show up,” said Johnson. The last bird new to the Island — an ash
throated flycatcher — flew in between five and 10 years ago. A tufted duck, a great white heron and a
roseate spoonbill have also shown up in the last 20 years, said Johnson. And Gloria Deppe spotted a black-
headed grosbeak at her feeder about 10 years ago.

Although not a first-sighting, the appearance of the unique scissor-tailed flycatcher caused quite a stir this
summer when it was spotted by Cliff Hagen in Fresh Kills, but it didn’t stick around long enough for many
others to see.

Fischer is hoping Teddy sticks around. After a 12-day string of sightings, including the weekend of the
nor’easters, he disappeared, and Fischer realized with a jolt how attached he had become.

He had a surprise on Sunday. Teddy reappeared, apparently having hung out at a neighbor’s. Perhaps he
needed a break in the celebrity status which has included a string of visitors, including photographers, and a
father and son from Connecticut. The son, who is being treated for cancer, is a birding enthusiast and his
father treated him to the trip to see the hummer and a cackling goose on the grounds of Mount Loretto
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