Tuesday, September 25, 2001

Colorful plants attract the stars

Hummingbirds

Caller-Times file

Hummingbirds were the stars of a recent birders' meeting at Fort Davis.

were the star avian performers at the fall meeting recently of the Texas Ornithological Society at Fort Davis in the Davis Mountains. Standard hummingbirds seen in that area are rufous and black-chinned. Other species present were blue-throated, magnificent, Lucifer's, also Anna's, calliope, and broad-tailed. All of these are western hummingbirds that stray to South Texas only occasionally. (Our most common one is also found all over the eastern half of the country, the ruby-throated hummingbird.)
   The Lucifer's was the first of the species for me, a Lifer, and therefore thrilling. The male in breeding plumage had a heavy, rough-textured purple gorgette. His manner of feeding was distinctive, slower and more deliberate than other hummers. A female of his species, while less splendid, was still easily recognized by the same slow approach to the feeder.
   Selected plants
   The field trip on which this bird was seen took us to a spectacular mountain garden where many of the plants were selected to attract hummingbirds. They were mostly native and required little water, as in xeriscape gardening. The owner of the house was a botanist and, judging from the garden, an artist.
   In the same spot we saw a female calliope, not so well plumaged as the Lucifer's but still a treat. Carmine streaks which form a "v" on the throat of this smallest North American bird can be quite spectacular. I have not seen this tiny male.
   Another field trip to watch birds being banded provided a good look at one of my favorite birds, a green-tailed towhee. Birds that are being handled are uncomfortable and obviously can't wait to be released, but I enjoyed our close-up look at this handsome bird with his bright reddish cap, green tail, and white throat with its strong black whisker mark.
   A yellow underwing
   The bird had a yellow underwing, not visible in the field and also a recovering brood patch, a spot of skin where feathers are worn away while the bird is sitting on eggs. I last saw a green-tailed towhee several years ago on a ranch near Mathis.
   The expert team also banded a yellow warbler, a Bewick's wren, a female painted bunting, and a female western tanager. Banders were Jon Dale and Mickey West. Priscilla Schaefer, a nurse who lives in Fort Davis, assisted in banding and also acted as Public Relations person, telling field trippers hows and whys of bird banding. The book they used was Identification Guide to Birds of North America, by Peter Pyle, a bander's Bible they said.
  
  

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Phyllis Yochem, a Corpus Christi resident, has studied birds in Texas since 1960.

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