Hummingbirds
Hummingbird Migration Update: March 26, 2009

Today's Report Includes:

Please Report
Your Sightings! >>
Hummer and Monarch on Tithonia
Who else needs energy from flower nectar? Roll your mouse over the photo to see. Click to explore more! >>
Photos: Bud Hensley
The Migration: Highlights, Maps, and Questions

Distribution Map

Rufous
Hummingbird

This Week's Map >>
Week-by-Week Animation >>
Sightings >>

Ruby-throated
Hummingbird

This Week's Map >>
Week-by-Week Animation >>
Sightings >>

Handouts: Today's Hummingbird Map Questions
Rufous Questions >                Rubythroat Questions >    
Highlights: Hungry Hummers Making Headway
"My first hummer has been feeding hard. He must have been out of gas from his trip across the gulf." reports a Journey North citizen scientist. That sums up what sharp observers like you are saying about the rubythroats pouring north: These beauties are feeding frantically on their long journeys. What else are they saying? Read on:
  • This Week's Observations from Citizen Scientists >>
After a week of lying low, the leading rubythroats flapped on southerly winds across a batch of new borders. They've now landed in 13 states! Observers throughout the South continued to report loads of newcomers heading up. How have your predictions matched our chart of where this spring's rubythroats have landed, and when? >>

Not much action has been reported along the rufous migration route. "Our first male rufous returned many times during the day to feed," says an Oregon observer. "It has been only in the 40 during the day and freezing at night. We hooked up a nite light to the bottle to keep the nectar from freezing." Rufous hummers don't mind the cold, but imagine how it could affect their food sources in the wild.

Precipitation forecast >>

Precipitation Forecast
Look for lots of wild weather this week across the country. Study this week's precipitation forecast and think what it could mean for hummers. Also read the "what to expect this week" section of our weather and songbird migration update. Then try to predict where you think hummers will appear by next week!
  • This Week's Precipitation Forecast >>
  • This Week's Weather and Songbird Migration Update >>
Migration is tough. Hummingbirds need energy to survive cold nights and crummy weather, fly like the wind, defend food sources, and more. Join us this week as we explore what keeps these hummers humming. Then keep your eyes and ears open for new arrivals!
Journal: How Does an Early Hummer Find Food?

Did you know that some eager male hummingbirds push north before many flowers bloom? If you were one of them, what could you find to eat? You might seek out sweet nectar in a schoolyard feeder. But there's another trick: You could sip sweet sap from a tree trunk! (Roll your mouse over the picture to see more!)

Question: As a tiny hummingbird, how do you think you could get sap from a tree?

  • Write your ideas on this Hummingbird Journal page >>
  • Next, watch today's slideshow to find out!

How could a tiny hummer get sap from a big tree trunk?
Photos: Ed Robertson; Martin Dollenkamp
Slideshow: Fast Food Fanatics?

It takes a lot of energy to be a busy, darting, migrating hummingbird! How do these tiny acrobats find food and conserve fuel on their long journeys north?

  • Slideshow: How Hummers Keep Their Engines Running >>

  • Slideshow Teacher Guide >>
Predict: When Will Your Hummingbird Arrive?

How close to you is the nearest reported hummingbird? When do you think your first one will arrive? Find your nearest hummer on our maps. Next, measure how far away it is! Here's what you'll need:

  • Instructions: Here Comes My Hummingbird! >>

  • Weekly Record Sheet >>
Notice: "Ask the Hummingbird Expert" Closes March 27! >>
This Week's Hummingbird Resources
  • Predict: Where Will They Arrive, and When? Making Predictions >>
  • Slideshow: How Hummers Keep Their Engines Running >>
  • Activity: Flowers That Fuel Migration >>
  • Long-term Lesson: Flower-Powered Migration Species — Compare and Contrast >>
  • Insight: This Week's Weather and Songbird Migration >>
  • Experiment: Surviving Cold Nights: Torpor >>
  • Tool: How Far? Measure the Distance with Google Maps! >>
  • Explore: Can Hummingbirds Tell Time? Scientists Discover that Hummers are Brainy >>
  • Video Clip : One Minute with a Hummingbird: What Do You See? >>
  • Hummingbird Migration Journals (click-and-print) >>
More Hummingbird Lessons and Teaching Ideas!

The Next Hummingbird Migration Update Will Be Posted on April 2, 2009.

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