Hummingbirds
Hummingbird Migration Update: March 20, 2008

Today's Report Includes:

Please Report
Your Sightings! >>

What just happened? >>
Photo: © Alandra Palisser
The Migration: Highlights, Maps, and Questions

Distribution Map

Rufous
Hummingbird

This Week's Map >>
Sightings >>

Ruby-throated
Hummingbird

This Week's Map >>
Sightings >>

Handouts: Today's Hummingbird Map Questions
Rufous Questions >                Rubythroat Questions >   

Highlights: Hungry Hummers on the Move!
"We saw a hummingbird today on a tree with red flowers!" reports Susan, a first grader in Langley, Washington. "It sounded like 'zzzzipppp.' It had a little green on it. It had a little orangish-reddish and it looked like it lit up. We saw it drinking from the flowers. It was hanging out at the top of the tree with red flowers, and then it buzzed off!

That sums up what sharp observers saying about the hummingbirds pouring north: These beauties are feeding frantically on their long journeys. One rufous appears to have made it to Alaska already! Can you find the latest state where the rubythroats have arrived? Don't forget to add it to your migration route prediction chart.

A storm in the East might "ground" rubythroats for a couple of days, but clear skies this weekend should urge them onward. Keep your eyes and ears open! In the meantime, look at this week's maps and handouts. Then join us next week to explore how hummers get the energy they need to dart, dive, and zip toward you!

Journal: How Does This Year Compare?

The dots on the maps are popping up like crazy as reports roll in. Is this year "normal" or unusual? What might affect the migration's timing? Take a look at three years of ruby-throated hummingbird maps, then decide what you think!

  • This Year's Rubythroat Migration: Early, Late, or About the Same? >>
Spring's Here! What does it mean for migrating hummers?

For many weeks, you have reported signs of seasonal change. Now the calendar says it's official: Spring begins on March 20! Why? Scientists declare spring in the Northern Hemisphere when the most direct rays of the sun hit the Earth's equator. What does that mean for migrating hummingbirds?

Explore: Spring's Here! Sunlight and the Migration >>

This Week's Hummingbird Resources
  • Predict: Where Will They Arrive, and When? Making Predictions >>
  • Questions? Ask the Hummingbird Expert (open until March 28) >>
  • Lesson Plan: How Do You Define Spring? >>
  • Explore: This Year's Rubythroat Migration: Early, Late, or About the Same? >>
  • Slideshow: An Amazing Rubythroat Journey >>
  • Lesson: When Will Our Hummingbird Habitat Be Ready? >>
  • Hummingbird Migration Journals (click-and-print) >>
  • Hummingbirds for Kids (booklets, photos, videos) >>
More Hummingbird Lessons and Teaching Ideas!

The Next Hummingbird Migration Update Will Be Posted on March 27, 2008.

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