{"id":3935,"date":"2024-06-24T14:12:46","date_gmt":"2024-06-24T14:12:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.zeiss.com\/sports-optics\/birding\/en\/?p=3935"},"modified":"2024-06-24T14:12:48","modified_gmt":"2024-06-24T14:12:48","slug":"catherines-corner-allens-hummingbird-selasphorus-sasin-sedentaris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.zeiss.com\/sports-optics\/birding\/en\/catherines-corner-allens-hummingbird-selasphorus-sasin-sedentaris\/","title":{"rendered":"Catherine&#8217;s Corner &#8211; Allen&#8217;s Hummingbird &#8211; Selasphorus Sasin Sedentaris"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>This spring I had an Allen\u2019s Hummingbird nest just outside my backyard door. Whenever I find a nest in<br>my yard, my first reaction is one of pure joy, but is always followed by a little anxiety. I have seen so<br>many nests fail. It is the way of the world, and I know this, but even observed with a scientific mindset it<br>is hard to not be invested. Nests in your own yard are really special.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"455\" data-id=\"3938\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.zeiss.com\/sports-optics\/birding\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/06\/1_ALHU_sm-600x455.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3938\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.zeiss.com\/sports-optics\/birding\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/06\/1_ALHU_sm-600x455.jpg 600w, https:\/\/blogs.zeiss.com\/sports-optics\/birding\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/06\/1_ALHU_sm-640x485.jpg 640w, https:\/\/blogs.zeiss.com\/sports-optics\/birding\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/06\/1_ALHU_sm.jpg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 639px) 98vw, (max-width: 1199px) 64vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"485\" height=\"531\" data-id=\"3939\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.zeiss.com\/sports-optics\/birding\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/06\/2_ALHU_sm.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3939\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><br>This nest was beautifully situated, visible only from one angle, ensconced in a shrub. All I could see was<br>the nest cup; there was no female sitting on it. I believed it was a new nest, but perhaps it was an old or<br>unused one that had gone previously unnoticed? Since peering into a nest can bring rather clever<br>predators straight to their next meal, I decided to find out if it was viable by use of a thermal camera. I\u2019m<br>fortunate to have one of the ZEISS models at hand, so I grabbed my DTI and first thing the following<br>morning I went out to check. The female was on the nest! And the whole nest radiated red hot!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Allen&#039;s Hummingbird - Selasphorus Sasin spotted by the ZEISS DTI 4\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/i5FXoM9LteU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><br>And so project hummingbird watch began. I found a spot to set up my scope for distance viewing and<br>sketching, and kept my hopes mediated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-2 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"519\" data-id=\"3942\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.zeiss.com\/sports-optics\/birding\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/06\/4_ALHU_sm.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3942\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.zeiss.com\/sports-optics\/birding\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/06\/4_ALHU_sm.jpg 700w, https:\/\/blogs.zeiss.com\/sports-optics\/birding\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/06\/4_ALHU_sm-600x445.jpg 600w, https:\/\/blogs.zeiss.com\/sports-optics\/birding\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/06\/4_ALHU_sm-640x475.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 639px) 98vw, (max-width: 1199px) 64vw, 700px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"477\" height=\"519\" data-id=\"3943\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.zeiss.com\/sports-optics\/birding\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/06\/5_ANHU_sm.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3943\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><br>Most identifications and accounts of hummingbirds start with the flashier, pugnacious males. Adult<br>males are visually incredible tiny packages of energy and fury, but they have nothing to do with nest<br>building, incubating, or rearing young. Their job is to be feisty and fabulous, and that\u2019s it, so my nest<br>observations did not involve them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While Allen\u2019s Hummingbirds are a ubiquitous resident here, their nesting presence is the result of a very<br>recent range expansion. Close cousins to the Rufous Hummingbird, Allen\u2019s Hummingbirds are far more<br>restricted in their range, hugging the California and Oregon coastal areas in summer and wintering in<br>Mexico. The nesting birds in my yard are a uniquely non-migratory subspecies, and in our Los Angeles<br>neighborhood, breeding data starts only in the mid-1990\u2019s. Thought to have originated from one of<br>California\u2019s Channel Islands, our Allen\u2019s Hummingbird subspecies has spread dramatically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Selasphorus sasin sedentaris makes for a pretty cool scientific name. Selasphorus comes from Ancient<br>Greek, smashing together two words to form \u201cFlame-carrying\u201d. Sedentaris means, of course,<br>\u201csedentary\u201d. Sasin means \u2018hummingbird\u2019 in the language of the Nuu-chah-nulth, one of the Indigenous<br>peoples of what is now Pacific Northwest Canada. This bird has an interesting naming history, which is a<br>bit too long to go into here but brings up the current topic of eponymous naming of birds, and I<br>encourage anyone to research it further, for the love of history and ornithology both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-3 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"703\" data-id=\"3941\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.zeiss.com\/sports-optics\/birding\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/06\/6_ALHU_nest_03-1024x703.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3941\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.zeiss.com\/sports-optics\/birding\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/06\/6_ALHU_nest_03-1024x703.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.zeiss.com\/sports-optics\/birding\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/06\/6_ALHU_nest_03-600x412.jpg 600w, https:\/\/blogs.zeiss.com\/sports-optics\/birding\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/06\/6_ALHU_nest_03-768x527.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.zeiss.com\/sports-optics\/birding\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/06\/6_ALHU_nest_03-640x439.jpg 640w, https:\/\/blogs.zeiss.com\/sports-optics\/birding\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/06\/6_ALHU_nest_03.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 639px) 98vw, (max-width: 1199px) 64vw, 770px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I was lucky this time; the nest had two healthy chicks who made it all the way to fledging. I watched as<br>the first tiny bills appeared, then two heads, then two bodies too large to fit into the nest any longer (if<br>one can ever describe a hummingbird as too large). Then the nestlings, one slightly larger, took off one<br>after the other, and were suddenly gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\">Citations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"has-small-font-size\">Allen, Larry W., Kimball L. Garrett, and Mark C. Wimer. 2016. Los Angeles Breeding Bird Atlas. Los<br>Angeles Audubon Society, Los Angeles, CA, USA.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-small-font-size\">Clark, C. J. and D. E. Mitchell (2020). Allen&#8217;s Hummingbird (Selasphorus sasin), version 1.0. In Birds of<br>the World (A. F. Poole, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-small-font-size\">Sibley, David A. 2014. The Sibley Guide to Birds. Alfred A. Knopf. New York, NY, USA.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This spring I had an Allen\u2019s Hummingbird nest just outside my backyard door. Whenever I find a nest inmy yard, my first reaction is one of pure joy, but is always followed by a little anxiety. I have seen somany nests fail. It is the way of the world, and I know this, but even<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":3942,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"topics":[],"yst_prominent_words":[53,92,823],"class_list":["post-3935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"acf":[],"author_meta":{"display_name":"Catherine Hamilton","author_link":"https:\/\/blogs.zeiss.com\/sports-optics\/birding\/en\/author\/catherinehamilton\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/blogs.zeiss.com\/sports-optics\/birding\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/06\/4_ALHU_sm-600x445.jpg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.zeiss.com\/sports-optics\/birding\/en\/category\/general\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">General<\/a>"],"unlinked":["<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">General<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 2 years ago","modified":"Updated 2 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on June 24, 2024","modified":"Updated on June 24, 2024"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on June 24, 2024 2:12 pm","modified":"Updated on June 24, 2024 2:12 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.zeiss.com\/sports-optics\/birding\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.zeiss.com\/sports-optics\/birding\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.zeiss.com\/sports-optics\/birding\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.zeiss.com\/sports-optics\/birding\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.zeiss.com\/sports-optics\/birding\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3935"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.zeiss.com\/sports-optics\/birding\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3935\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3949,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.zeiss.com\/sports-optics\/birding\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3935\/revisions\/3949"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.zeiss.com\/sports-optics\/birding\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.zeiss.com\/sports-optics\/birding\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.zeiss.com\/sports-optics\/birding\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.zeiss.com\/sports-optics\/birding\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3935"},{"taxonomy":"topics","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.zeiss.com\/sports-optics\/birding\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topics?post=3935"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.zeiss.com\/sports-optics\/birding\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=3935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}