Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

Allen's Hummingbird (Selasphorus sasin)

Abundance:  Occasional; 1 record in 1 Tennessee county, involving a single individual (Map of UCR Distribution); data from the Regional bird-monitoring efforts are too few to determine a trend in the population visiting the Region (see also Regional Bird-Monitoring Plan).

Status: Visitor during winter; banding record; photograph (see link below).

Information on Records: 

Mid-November 2002–6 March 2003 (1—immature male) Upchurch Rd., Elmwood, Smith County, Tennessee (Kathy Harville, Michael Todd photo, m. ob.; Casteel 2003b), banded (26 January 2003, Portia McMillan, Chris Sloan); photo (2 February 2003, Michael Todd).

Regional Extreme Dates: 

    Early Fall: Mid-November 2002 (Smith County, Tennessee; Kathy Harville).

    Late Spring: 6 March 2003 (Smith County, Tennessee; Kathy Harville).

YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: No registrations.

Habitat: This Allen's Hummingbird wintered in a rural yard not too far from the confluence of the Caney Fork and Cumberland rivers; except for its feeder, the yard seemed unremarkable to the human eye, resembling many sites where hummers have wintered in Tennessee, except perhaps that the vegetation on one side of the yard was quite dense.

Remarks: This record established the fifth occurrence of this western hummingbird in Tennessee (Casteel 2003b).  When banded, it weighed 3.48 g (Chris Sloan, pers. com.).

Check-lists of Birds for the Counties of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of each county of the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed by clicking on the links below. For each county, there are two check-lists: one list that shows the species that have been observed and where possible documented in the county within the larger list for the entire Region; and one list that includes only the species observed in the county with annotations for the date and observers for at least one sighting (the ultimate goal of the latter list will be to include annotations for the very first known Regional observation of each species in that county; this goal is probably one that will take many years to complete, if completion is even a possibility). To see if the species discussed in this species account has been observed in a county, click below or click on the link for the Map of UCR Distribution near the top of the page.

Check-lists of Birds for Some Public Access Birding Sites of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of some public access birding sites within the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed via the links below. To see if the species dealt with in this species account has been observed within any of these sites, click on the appropriate link below. See the pages for each county within the Gazetteer for links to additional smaller public access birding sites with check-lists in progress.

Literature Cited