Hummingbird
Migration Update: May 4, 2006
Hummingbird Maps and Data
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Migration News: The Home Stretch
Thanks! Fifteen Seconds With a Male Hummingbird: What Do You See? This week, watch a male hummingbird during his brief, 15-second visit to a feeder. Can you see him fly forward, backwards, sideways, and hover? What else do you see and wonder? Then compare the male with the female clip to see how they are similar and how they are different. Finally, enjoy a few slow motion clips of the hummingbird's beak, tongue, and flight--and listen to its humming wings.
How Brainy Are Hummers? Everywhere they appear, these tiny winged wonders are flocking to feeders and flowers. Do you ever wonder if they can tell the flowers that still have nectar from the ones they've already emptied? How long does it take for a flower to replenish its nectar after a hummingbird or other pollinator visits it? Scientists doing research have discovered that Ruous hummingbirds are brainy. Pretend you're a hummingbird in search of nectar as you play our simple memory activity.
Hmmm. Would You Rather be a Male or a Female?
Then try assigning hummingbird jobs, using this chart: Rufous Hummers in High Latitudes: Discussion of CQ #7 We asked: “At what town and latitude was this week's northernmost sighting report? Do you predict Rufous hummingbirds will be seen any farther north than this week's northernmost sighting? Defend your answer. What changes-northward or eastward-- do you predict the migration will show in one week?” A data check from the April 20 Update shows the northernmost latitude sighting at 58.85 -134.68 in Auke Bay, Alaska. On April 27, it was 58.48 -134.16 in Juneau, Alaska, and it's another Juneau sighting in today's data. Could Rufous be at their northern limits? That's what the data suggest. But some of them are still on the move. Keep checking our map server to see what happens next!
Feeding Your Hummers In his answers for Ask the Expert, Mr. Chambers reminded us to keep hummingbird feeders clean and food fresh. The best recipe is one part cane sugar (rather than beet sugar) to four parts water. Your hummingbirds each eat 1.5 times their body weight each day! (How much food would YOU need to eat daily if you were a hummingbird?) Be sure your sightings are on the map as we complete the 2006 migration story! To Report >>>.
The FINAL Hummingbird Migration Update Will Be Posted on May *11, 2006 (Migration Maps and Data only). Copyright
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