The Latest Visitor to My Hummingbird Feeder

I've spent the past few Saturday's around the house as my wife and I have been caring for her aging mother who is visiting with us for a while. Several days ago I noticed a hummingbird that stood out from the rest. The average person wouldn't notice the subtle differences among hummingbirds, but after you watch them for a while you begin to more easily recognize when one differs from the others. In this case I caught a glimpse of a bird that was visibly smaller (about half an inch) than the Rufous Hummingbirds with which it was fighting to get a place at the feeder. The tail was noticeably shorter and more squared when fanned. It also had very limited rufous coloring in the base of the tail. Its sides were more of a buffy color than a rufous color. It was a loner as well. It was chased by both Rufous and Black-chinned Hummingbirds so photo opportunities were difficult to capture.

Here is a series of photos starting at a distance (and/or poorest image quality) and getting closer as the images progress. I'll provide some clues along the way. These images were captured in Pleasant Grove, Utah. Do you know what hummingbird species this might be? Can you tell if it is an adult or juvenile, male or female? Have fun!

Buffy sides, white visible at base of upper mandible, wings covering tip of tail...

Slight streaking on throat, buffy chest, short thin bill, white at base of upper mandible, wings reaching tail tip, very slight rufous coloring at base of outer tail feathers, tail is squared while perched...

Lousy image, but tail is squared while fanned, central tail feathers blurred, unfortunately...

Slightly darker feather on throat?...

Central tail feathers visible in this image, black and shorter than the white-tipped tail feathers...

And a few final images...

Well, what do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts so feel free to leave a comment or email me.

As a final clue, if you need one, I'll share an image of an adult male of this species.