Broad-tailed hummingbirds are common summer residents on our Littleton farm. Males generally arrive by mid April and begin their noisy, vertical breeding displays. Females, which build the nest and care for the young usually turn up in May. By August, the males and their buzzy trills head south, followed by the less conspicuous females and offspring somewhat later.
On this sunny, hot September afternoon, I encountered two tiny hummingbirds flitting about one of our large elms. Based on their size and drab coloration, they were calliope hummingbirds, the smallest migratory bird in the U.S. Having nested and summered on mountain meadows, they are on their way to Mexico for the winter; since they lacked the magenta throat of adult males, they were either females or this summer's offspring.
The sighting was the first for me on our farm. It only took them 35 years to show up or, more likely, to be discovered by this intrepid birder.
