Journey North Hummingbird Spring 2006

Hummingbird Migration Update: May 4, 2006

Today's Report Includes:

Latest Migration News: The Home Stretch
Thanks!
Fifteen Seconds With a Male Hummingbird: What Do You See?
How Brainy Are Hummers?
Hmmm. Would You Rather be a Male or a Female?
Rufous Hummers in High Latitudes: Discussion of CQ #7
Feeding Your Hummers
Year -End Evaluation: Please Share Your Thoughts!

Hummingbird Maps and Data

Distribution Map

Rufous
Hummingbird
(map) (data)
Slide show (week-by-week animation)

Ruby-throated
Hummingbird
(map) (data)
Slide show (week-by-week animation)

Most data courtesy of Lanny Chambers,
Hummingbirds.net

Latest Migration News: The Home Stretch
Wow! Ruby-throated hummingbirds-those pennyweight powerhouses-continue surging north. They're all the way to Nova Scotia! Amazingly, many of you report your hummers arriving on the same date each year. “The two arrived this morning just as they have for the past three years on May 1!”

In the West, Rufous hummingbirds keep trickling eastward into the mountains and beyond, but they appear to be at their northernmost limits. They continue moving inland, away from the milder temperatures of the coast. “FINALLY some Rufous hummingbirds," reported an observer in Douglas, Alaska. From Plains, Montana comes this happy news: “Just a few minutes ago I had my first gloriously colored male Rufous hummer at my feeder here in the high country.”

Rufous hummingbird female
Photo Laura Erickson

Thanks!
Everyone is thrilled to welcome back these long-distance migrants. Thank you for sharing your excitement and sightings with us for the 2006 migrations! With this final full report (next time is data and maps only), we'd like to send a big THANKS to Lanny Chambers for sharing his Rubythroat hummingbird maps and data once again this spring, and to Mike Patterson for his Rufous data contributions.

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.

Fifteen Seconds With a Male Hummingbird

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.

Can Hummingbirds Tell Time? Scientists Discover that Hummers are Brainy


Why were thee wild male rufous hummingbirds fed from artificial flowers? What could scientists hope to learn from such an experiment? Find out here! Photos: Andrew Hurly

Hmmm. Would You Rather be a Male or a Female?

Photo Dorothy Edgington

What's next in the hummer life cycle? Even though it's not written down anywhere, male and female hummingbirds know what their duties are when it comes to raising young. It's a lot of work, and takes enormous energy by the mother and father. Check out their list of chores and see if you know who does what. Fill out the chart, then compare chores of the hummingbirds to those of Robins and Bald Eagles. Which species shar some chores but ot all? Which species don't do any baby care, but perform other critical tasks? To learn what a pair of hummers must do to raise their babies, see:

Hummingbird Nesting Phenology

Then try assigning hummingbird jobs, using this chart:

Chore Chart for Raising Hummingbirds: Duties for Males and Females

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!

Rufous hummingbird male
Photo Carl Pascoe

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?)

Please Report Your Sightings!

Be sure your sightings are on the map as we complete the 2006 migration story! To Report >>>.

Year-End Evaluation: Please Share Your Thoughts!

Please take a few minutes to share your suggestions and comments in our Year-End Evaluation. The information you provide is critical for planning new initiatives and for improving Journey North. Also, as a free program supported by a generous grant from Annenberg Media, we want to be able to document Journey North's reach, impact and value. THANK YOU!

Journey North
Year End Evaluation

Please share your thoughts!

The FINAL Hummingbird Migration Update Will Be Posted on May *11, 2006 (Migration Maps and Data only).