Those of us who watch birds often wonder whether it's the "same" birds we see in our yards year after year. Sometimes it seems as if they use the identical perch as the same species did last year, or reuse last season's nest, but we can never really be sure. How can we tell one individual male robin from the another?
Last year I had a lively traffic in hummingbirds, lured to my suburban patio in part by voluminous red flowers. Last week, I had my first-of-the-season hummer, who came zipping right in to the feeder. However, I have no flowers at all just yet, and the feeder, while red, is under a dark portico, hardly a thing that some passing migrant might stumble upon. Was it one of last years birds? No way to say for sure, but I feel as many of us do when the returning birds of spring manifest seemingly comfortable habits: very probably so.
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