Ruby-throated Hummingbird in Dakota County
2023-08-20

Common in Dakota County in the Fall season

Found at the meadow up the trout brook trail at Miesville Ravine Dakota Co. Park by Steve Weston. Photo by Richard Gotz. First year male: note light crown resulting in masked appearance, longer curved bill, prominent white eye spot, white spot on shoulder, blunt rounded tip to first feather of wing. Also barely visible is dark feathers at base of throat. Was pumping tail rapidly as it fed. [If a Black-chinned, would be] first Minnesota record, pending review by MOURC. [This record was previously labeled as Black-chinned Hummingbird. Separation of juvenile/female hummingbirds of this genus is a very difficult ID issue: see https://birdersjournal.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/hummingbird-id.pdf. Just the length of that excellent article alone indicates how challenging the identification can be. As the last sentence in the caption above states, any conclusions about the ID would be "pending review by MOURC," but so far several birders are of the opinion that the photo indicates it is a Ruby-throated, primarily due to the shape of the outermost primary. –Kim Eckert]

Richard Gotz