Louisiana Kentucky Rufous
In February of 2008, I banded a Rufous Hummingbird in the yard of Lafayette gardener, Jeanne Plaisance. He was one of her first winter hummingbirds and a thrill to band. He was an adult male, so his exact age was unknown. We do know he was not hatched the previous summer and was at least 1 1/2 years old.
Louisiana Kentucky Rufous
A temporary paint mark was applied to the crown to easily identify him in the yard. A Buff-bellied Hummingbird arrived in the yard a few days later and became the star of the show. The Rufous was pushed to an outlying feeder and seen occassionally for several weeks after banding.
The next time we heard of him was when a fellow hummingbird bander, Brainard Palmer-Ball Jr., recaptured him in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, on December 6, 2009. He is currently spending the winter there and photo's can be seen at the web site below:
http://www.biology.eku.edu/kos/Rufous_Hummingbird.htm
I want to thank Jeanne Plaisance for participating in our hummingbird research and allowing us to band her Rufous. I also thank the KY homeowner and Brainard for documenting the Kentucky connection.
Dave Patton
Lafayette, LA