Rivoli hybrid male and an adult female Black-chinned which illustrates their size difference
A One of a Kind Discovery - Steve Bouricius
On Saturday at the festival banding site a large hummingbird thought to be a Rivoli's was seen by several observers. It later turned out to be very different! The next day, the Sedona Hummingbird Festival banding team caught what was soon identified as a hybrid cross of Rivoli's Hummingbird and Black-chinned Hummingbird.
As our veteran bird catcher, Lenore Hemingway caught the bird and brought it to me. Her impression was that it was large for a Black-chinned. I removed the bird from the bird bag and said, "Oh, this is the Rivoli's!" I had once banded a rare female Rivoli's in Colorado, so I gave the bird to Scott Rashid who had never banded one.
While he was photographing it, I made a specially sized band. As we examined the bird's plumage we realized it was unusual. The bird was clearly an adult male by the iridescent gorget and the lack of bill striations, but it lacked the purple crown typical of adult male Rivoli's. It had an all dark green crown, rather than the purple crown of a male Rivoli's. It had an iridescent lime green gorget like a Rivoli's, but it also wore a broad swath of black color in the chin. The breast, belly, and sides were mottled black and gray rather than the all black of a typical Rivoli's.
What were we looking at here? Scott, Deb, and I had no previous in-hand experience with male Rivoli's. "That's got to be a hybrid Rivoli's/Black-chinned!", Sheri Williamson exclaimed. Scott took measurements which verified that it was larger than a Black-chinned, yet smaller than a Rivoli's. After a few quick photos we released the bird. It was again observed four days later at the Hemingway home.
Hummingbirds are known to hybridize occasionally but so far as we know from our references there is no record of this combination of species. The male Rivoli's x Black-chinned Hummingbird is a truly unique bird, a one of a kind. It's discovery opens questions of both it's parentage and it's offspring, if that were to happen. The unique number on the bird band individualizes it and our hope is for the team to re encounter this remarkable hummingbird at the 2023 Sedona Hummingbird Festival.
___
Steve is requesting any clear photos taken of the Rivoli's hybrid on either Sat.
7-30, or Sun. 7-31. A few photographers got telephoto images of the bird and Steve would like to see any good photos. The photographer may contact him via e-mail at:
bouricii@earthlink.net.
