Verification of Unusual
Sight Record
For Utah
Rec. # 2023-36
| Common name: |
Rivoli's Hummingbird |
| Scientific name: | Eugenes fulgens |
| Date: | 6/17/2023 |
| Time: | 09:54 |
| Length of time observed: | 3 minutes |
| Number: | 1 |
| Age: | Adult |
| Sex: | Female |
| Location: | Lytle Ranch Preserve |
| County: | Washington |
| Latilong: | 37.151035, -114.018518 |
| Elevation: | 3100 |
| Distance to bird: | About 5 meters |
| Optical equipment: | Nikon Coolpix p900, Vortex Diamondback 10x42 binos |
| Weather: | 90 F, still |
| Light Conditions: | Sunny |
| Description: Size of bird: | Small, but large for hummingbird |
| (Description:) Basic Shape: | Long wings, short broad tail, tall posture |
| (Description:) Overall Pattern: | Green above, grayish white below, black tail with white tip, white mark behind eye |
| (Description:) Bill Type: | Long, thin, straight. |
|
(Description:)
Field Marks and Identifying Characteristics: |
This was a very large hummingbird, which is why I
noticed it. I have never seen one so large except in the tropics in
Mexico. She was large, long, and lanky. There was no mistaking her for a
male or for a female of a more common species like Costa's because she
was huge. She also had a very distinctive white mark behind her eye,
kind of shaped like a comma. (see photos) |
| Song or call & method of delivery: | No calls heard. |
| Behavior: | She perched on a branch near where I was sitting and stayed there for several minutes before flying away uphill. |
| Habitat: | Dry, scrubby copse of trees near a drying out pond in the Mojave Desert. |
| Similar
species and
how were they eliminated: |
Similar to Black-chinned hummingbird but just way too big. The bill and wings were also longer proportionally. |
| Previous
experience with this & similar species: |
I have never seen this species before. |
| References consulted: | eBird, Merlin, Birds of the World, and a friend who is a bird guide in the Southwest and tropics. |
| Description from: |
From memory From photo(s) taken at the time of the sighting |
| Observer: | Jessica Matyas |
| Observer's address: | 375 Wall St, Salt Lake City, UT 84103 |
| Observer's e-mail address: | ** |
| Other observers who independently identified this bird: | |
| Date prepared: | 7/28/2023 |
| Additional material: | Photos |
| Additional comments: | My photos of this bird are attached to the eBird checklist and I will email them in as well. |