Ruby-throated Hummingbird

I'd agree Liam. It looks like an immature ruby-throat to me and rufous hummingbirds are rare in the area of this spotting. Those two things lead me to my tentative conclusion that this is a ruby-throat. Thanks for the confirmation. I was hoping you'd see this and confirm my suspicions. I've only seen ruby-throats here in Minnesota and only see three or four a year in our yard, even though I put out feeders for them.

In Maryland Rufous are uncommon vagrants during the winter months. Early October is a bit early for their arrival.
In addition, Rufous would show more color on the side and flanks.

Oops, I hit return a bit to quick... See the rufous hummingbird page at http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/ruby-...

I'm not an expert on hummingbirds, but suspect this is an immature ruby-throat. Typically Maryland has only two species: ruby-throats and rufous. Take a look at http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/ruby-.... There is a bird at the bottom of the page that looks quite similar. Also take a look at the rufous at . I'll be curious as to what you come up with.