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(Back to Hummingbird Home Page)
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When ruby-throated hummingbirds return to nest in the U.S. and Canada this spring, they will have just completed a remarkable round trip journey to Mexico & Central America and back! You can plot the hummingbirds' return journey and learn what it takes for these - and other species of "neotropical" migrants - to successfully complete this amazing trip.
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Wintering and Breeding Range of the Map by D. Bojar and U. McKinney |
For a second year, we will also track a western hummer: the Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus). This species over-winters primarily in Mexico and many travel all the way to Alaska to breed, the most northerly of any hummingbird. Watch for this hummingbird if you live in northern California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, western Montana, Alberta, British Columbia or southeast Alaska.
Before Migration
There are important learning activities that you can do even before hummingbirds
begin to migrate:
- Research hummers, beginning with Journey North's Fun Facts
- Try our Life Cycle Sleuth lesson
Unpave the Way for Hummingbirds
In addition to tracking their migration this spring, we hope you'll help hummingbirds
along the way by creating habitat for them. Many helpful people and resources can
be accessed through this WWW site. When your habitat project is complete, report
back to Journey North. We'll add your site our "Unpave the Way for Wildlife"
map, showing where you've helped make life better for the wildlife that shares your
home.
When Migration Begins--What to Report to
Journey North
We plot the journey beginning with a report from the neotropical migrants' wintering
grounds in Central America. As songbirds cross the Gulf of Mexico on their annual
nonstop flight, a scientist will give students real-time weather lessons and explore
the effect of weather on migration. As the journey continues, students across North
America will report backyard sightings when the hummingbirds and orioles return.
Student activities will run the spectrum, from geography and math to the physical
and life sciences. They will explore the physiology of flight, analyze banding data,
learn about population dynamics, and participate in an on-line opinion poll surrounding
conservation issues.
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As soon as you place your hummingbird feeder outside, report to Journey North. Now you're ready to watch for your first hummers!
2. Report the FIRST Hummingbird you see this spring.
Let us know when your Hummingbird safely arrives after the long migration from Central America.
3. Report "leaf-out" of your trees.
Here's why: For many songbird species, the timing of spring migration may be related to leaf-out. This is because when leaves emerge, so do lots of insects. Songbirds may fuel their migration by following the leaf-out, and eating the millions of insects available at that time. With your help, we'd like to test whether these spring events are inter-related.
Neotropical Migratory Songbird Project
The Journey North project tracks the migration of 4 species of Neotropical migratory songbirds: Ruby-throated and rufous hummingbirds, and Baltimore and Bullock's orioles. Neotropical migrants are birds that breed in North America and winter south of the U.S. border. An amazing 333 bird species migrate according to this pattern. As the habitat along their long trail is broken into fragments, people are noticing a significant decline in the number of songbirds that return each spring. Students will meet members of an international network of scientists and conservation professionals who have united to preserve songbird habitat and they'll discover imaginative conservation strategies at work.
Copyright 2000 Journey North. All Rights Reserved. Please send all questions, comments, and suggestions to our feedback form
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