| Please
Report Your Sightings! |
 |
The ruby-throated hummingbird sightings continue to pour in and both species are filling up the map. Be sure to check it out. This week's slideshow takes you into a nest where the birds are ready to fledge. What does a hummingbird look like? Check out the new art gallery of hummer portraits created by grade 3 students in Decatur, Georgia.
Today's Report Includes:
- Highlights, Maps, and Questions
- Slideshow: Big Babies in a Small Nest
- Journal: New Discoveries, 3-2-1
- Student Art Gallery
- Year-end Evaluation: Please Share Your Thoughts
Highlights:
Hundreds of Hummers
Once
again, there were over 200 ruby sighting reports this week.The rufous
hummers continue to fill in their breeding territory with sightings in
Montana, Utah, Idaho, and Colorado. We received our first sighting report
in French from Quebec. Have you seen your first hummer yet this year?
Here's a sampling of the newest reports:
May
17: Ste-angèle-de-mérici, Quebec
Pour
la première fois cette saison, un petit colibri mâle, c'est
montrer le bout du nez. Ste-angèle-de-mérici, PQ Nancy Caron
May
17: Sugar Hill, New Hampshire
"Mass arrival" of birds on May
17. Their arrival is much later than previous years. We have gone from
having no hummers to having at least four (both males and females)all
arriving on the same date.
May
17: Corbeio, Ontario
We now have at least 2 or more hummers.
They are fighting at the feeders. They are very small and skinny. However,
lovely to watch. I have quite a few flowers open so they are getting well
fed even though not their usual type.
May
17: Kamloops, British Columbia
We put our feeder up on May 14 and we have
3 Rufous hummingbirds enjoying the nectar, not all at once of course..
It's too bad they don't share... We are looking forward to seeing more!
May
15: Gilbert, Minnesota
Early evening, single male arrived targeting my red hat. First warm sunny
day in a week. It snowed heavily last weekend then 6 days of cold rain.
Fed on daffodils.
May
14: Kalispell, Montana
The male hummingbirds have arrived after
the females. This is the first time this has happened since we have been
watching for the first hummingbirds. And they are fighting over the feeders,
even though was have them on different sides of the house.
May
13: Canmore, Alberta
A week later than last year. May be the
snow last year delayed his return?
 |
 Distribution Map |
 |
| Rufous
|
Ruby-throated
|
|
| Handouts: Today's Hummingbird Map Questions | ||
In many areas, hummingbirds have just barely arrived. But soon mama hummers will have nestlings showing their independence. The nest is getting smaller every day as the little birds grow fat on the food they're receiving from mom. Soon they will fledge and begin a new life on their own. Explore more in this week's slideshow.
- Slideshow:
When the Nest Becomes Too Small
After seeing today's slideshow, what new things did you learn about hummingbirds? Use this hummingbird journal page to write down the following:
- 3 challenges you think a young hummer might face when it is first learning independence.
- 2 things a hummingbird knows by instinct and 1 thing it must learn.
- 1 or more questions you have about fledglings.
"How do I remember what the hummers look like?"
That was the question that was answered by students in Decatur, Georgia this spring. Their teacher, Amy Lockwood, challenged them to really look at the birds as artists. What shapes are in their bodies? What colors are their feathers?
Using their classroom screen to view the Web site, each student created artistic representations of the birds.
| Teachers: The migration is wrapping up in the next few weeks! What
Have We Learned? |
Will you take a few minutes to complete our Year-end Evaluation? With your help, we can we document Journey North's reach, impact and value. We need comments like yours to keep the program going and growing.
-
Year-end Evaluation: Please Share Your Thoughts
The Next Hummingbird Migration Update Will Be Posted on May 26, 2010.
© 1997 – 2019 Journey North. All rights reserved.
