Rufous Hummingbird May occurrence question

[David Suddjian]

What precedent is there for Rufous Hummingbird in Colorado in May? Andrews and Righter cite some individuals in Eagle County beginning 23 May, and eBird has a single report showing: 31 May in Douglas County. (eBird has a small number of records in early June, but it is tedious to sift through all the June records to pick out the early ones since I can't view less than a month at a time, but the bar chart remains at the thinnest line until the last week of the month.) So clearly they are quite rare in late May, but is there more than the two noted above? 

The reason I ask is that as I was at the dinner table a short while ago, I looked up to see a rather orange male hummer hovering near a feeder just outside the nearby window, then it zipped off. I did not see it for more than a few seconds, in low light (gray skies), but I saw a lot of rufous orange on the underparts, there was orange on the back, and the gorget flashed some orangey and looked differed than the red showing on the Broad-tailed appearing in the same lighting. The window was closed, so I could not hear any wing noise or calls. I the naked eye view was too brief to feel certain of this rarity, but it sure did not look like the species that are expected here (Ken Caryl, JeffCo) now. Keeping an eye out.

If anyone has any more info on May recordds beyond those mentioned above, I'd be interested to learn.

David Suddjian

Littleton, CO