#rufous hummingbird

Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus) Trochilidae, male

Missoula, MT
May 31, 2017
Robert Niese

I spent a whole weekend trying to photograph Calliopes visiting this feeder, but they refused to participate. The RUHUs on the other hand, tolerated my presence much more and were happy to pose for me. This male was so aggressive he nearly chased me away from his feeder! How does such a tiny animal possess so much spunk?!

Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus) Trochilidae, male

Missoula, MT
June 12, 2016
Robert Niese

Just as the sun is setting, this hummingbird feeder becomes a hub of activity. We can have as many as 12 individuals feeding all at once! I love it! In addition to RUHUs, we also see many Calliopes and some Black-chinned hummers here. 

Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus) Trochilidae, male

Missoula, MT
June 12, 2016
Robert Niese

Male RUHUs are probably the first hummingbirds to arrive here in Montana in the spring. They are our most aggressive hummingbirds and will chase anything that gets too close to their territories. Look for them in moist or riparian woods throughout the Pacific Northwest from April to September. In Western Washington, males will arrive with the first blooms of Salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis) and Indian Plum (Oemleria cerasiformis) in late February and March.

Selasphorus rufus - Rufous Hummingbird [male] 

“A hummingbird’s brilliant throat color is not caused by feather pigmentation, but rather by iridescence in the arrangement of the feathers and the influence of light level, moisture and other factors." More facts here.

thebiologyphotoblog:

Selasphorus rufus - Rufous Hummingbird [male] 

“A hummingbird’s brilliant throat color is not caused by feather pigmentation, but rather by iridescence in the arrangement of the feathers and the influence of light level, moisture and other factors." More facts here.

Got the urge to draw some Raine Whispers conductor poses.

I’m playing with the idea that their baton is actually their palisman, a little hummingbird named Rufous (named for the both the color and the species).

It’s so small because Eda donated the palistrom wood leftover from carving Owlbert to Raine and brought them over to her place to carve something with her dad.

Dell was so impressed by Raine’s carving skills (since Raine was already an aspiring “luthier” and carving their own instruments), he basically made them an honorary Clawthorne on the spot.

Raine doesn’t use the palisman much in order to protect it from Belos, and also because a lot of magic tires the little bird out. They did direct plenty of their Bard classes with it though while they were still teaching.

IDK how to draw a hummingbird in TOH style though, and the Rufous color looks more Flapjack red than reference orange, so IDK… I might just make it all brown like Owlbert? I’m still tinkering around.