Rufous Hummingbird, Palmyra Cove Nature Center
Jan 20th, 2013, by Alex Zorach
This photo shows a rufous hummingbird which I saw outside the visitor's center at Palmyra Cove Nature Park in Palmyra, New Jersey...in the middle of January!
This bird, a species native to the west coast of North America, apparently chose to overwinter here, where the nature center had a hummingbird feeder with a heat lamp on it.
I was not aware of this bird's presence when we stopped by the nature center here. I thought I saw a hummingbird, and tracked it down--at the time it was catching insects in a nearby wetland area. I was surprised to find a hummingbird in January, but not terribly surprised at it being this species--the rufous hummingbird is a relatively regular visitor to the east coast of the U.S. in winter. It is a naturally cold-hardy species, and the presence of feeders enables it to overwinter farther north than it would normally be able to.