Clothespin Red

Day 189: Clothespin Red is a smart little guy. When the weather is nasty, he perches on the clothesline underneath my back porch awning. If he'd moved just another six inches to the right, I'd have been able to show you his size compared to a wooden spring-style clothespin. He's broader, but just about as long from the crown of his head to the tip of his tailfeathers. In sunlight, that black patch under his chin is iridescent red. What is he? A Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus), described by Cornell Labs as being "one of the feistiest hummingbirds in North America," and you'd better believe it. They have even been reported as attacking squirrels and chipmunks which have gotten to close to their feeding/breeding areas. Yes, Clothespin Red defends his proprietary right to the clothesline! While some people in the Pacific Northwest may tell you that their Rufouses stick around all year, that's not actually the case. Selaphorus rufus is a migratory species. The birds in my yard today may winter in Mexico, replaced at my feeders by Alaskan birds who have "gone south" to holiday in Washington's milder climate; the avian equivalent of the changing of the guard.