Plantnut, the colors change with the light. The slightest change in the inclination of the head can change the colors from red to black as the light flashes off. ctnchpr, amazing how ferocious the tiny things can be, isn't it? :)

I don't know but scott weidensaul said on the pa bird list that when he was training future hummingbird banders in west virginia along with bob and martha sargent they were catching only adult male migrators the first week of August and local females and juveniles based on fat content I just read that tonight thought that might be of interest ro you. Sarah

The books say they will migrate when ready, and that having a feeder out will not keep them from migrating. Not just one book, but several that I read last summer. They have to put on a lot of fat before they can meet the energy demands and possible lack of food in migration. My own guess is that the ones that migrate late are a second breeding and smaller and lower in the pecking order, so they aren't as fat and need to stay longer to fatten up so they can leave. You can help your little friend by increasing the concentration of the solution from 4: 1 to 2:1 sugar to water, or even 1:1 This helps them get fat faster so they can leave sooner. This is especially true this late in the season when a lot of plant food has died in frost. Good luck! And good luck to her, too!

Wow... I'd be quite worried as well. It's beyond late, so I have to think the chance of this hummer making it to central America is pretty small. Heck, if she has remained in Connecticut through October and November maybe she's just not programmed correctly. In that case, there's not much anyone can do.