January 22, 2021
A hummingbird species that usually makes its home in the western part of the United States has been drawing birders and photographers to the Fairfax County Park Authority’s Green Spring Gardens in Alexandria, Virginia. A bird bander credentialed by the U.S. Geological Survey has con-firmed that a female Rufous hummingbird has made its way to Virginia.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said the Rufous hummingbird is amazing because of the great distances it can migrate from wintering grounds as far south as Mexico to breeding grounds as far north as Alaska, but the migration route is usually along the West Coast. The bird that took a long detour to Green Spring Gardens is described as an after hatch-year female with five colorful gorget (throat) feathers.