OHIO-BIRDS Archives

January 2012

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Subject:
From:
Allen Chartier <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Allen Chartier <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sun, 29 Jan 2012 19:47:10 -0500
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Birders,

As a known "hummingbird guy", this particular email has been sent to me
probably 50 times already (and another hundred will probably forward it to
me in the next 6 months :-). One statement is not quite true. It says that
albino hummingbirds are almost never photographed. On average, I receive
photos of 2-5 albino Ruby-throats every year. One in Michigan this past
fall. A couple dozen albino Ruby-throats have been banded, and all have
been juveniles which is why these birds seem to appear in August or
September. None has ever returned as an adult, which tells you what the
fate of these beauties is likely to be. Their flight feathers may not be
strong enough to complete a migration as they lack melanin for strength,
and of course they're probably easier for predators to locate. Oddly, most
also seem to be females; perhaps the gene for albinism in hummingbirds is
sex-specific, like color blindness or baldness in humans? They are
impressive. They are rare (though not as rare as albinos of some other
species). But they seem to be photographed quite a lot!

--
Allen T. Chartier
Inkster, Michigan
Email: [log in to unmask]
Website: www.amazilia.net
Blog: http://mihummingbirdguy.blogspot.com/

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