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Hummingbird Migration Update: February
11, 2003
Today's Report Includes:
- Welcome to This Spring's Hummingbird Journey North
- Which Hummingbird Am I Seeing? Challenge Question #1
- Ruby-throated Hummingbirds Still on Wintering Grounds
- Rufous Hummingbirds: First Migrant Seen (Maps and Data)
- Meet Rufie! Challenge Question #2
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| Distribution of Breeding and Wintering Rufous and Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. Notice that this map doesn't show the migration between! |
With your help, Journey North is tracking both Rufous hummingbirds and Ruby-throated hummingbirds again this spring. These two species have the widest ranges of North American hummingbirds. Ruby-throats are generally seen in the eastern half of the continent and Rufous in the western half. Rufous hummers travel farther north than any hummingbird species. If you're planning to map the migration of this western species, you will need a map that extends all the way to Alaska! Which hummer are YOU watching for: Ruby-throated or Rufous?
Which Hummingbird Am I Seeing?
If you look at most field guide range maps, you'll notice that Rufous Hummingbirds are found only in the West, and Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are found only in the East. BUT Range maps usually only show the vast majority of a population, not the handful of individual data points from vagrants ("strays") that some of you see and report. That complicates things, so we have this advice: Wherever you see a hummingbird, you have to pay attention to its field marks to know for sure what species it belongs to. Two fine field guides to hummingbirds are:
- Hummingbirds of North America (Peterson Field Guide Series) by Sheri L. Williamson, Houghton Mifflin, 2001.
- Hummingbirds of North America: The Photographic Guide by Steve N.G. Howell, Academic Press, 2002.
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| Adult Male Rufous Hummingbird |
Adult Male Ruby-throated Hummingbird |
Challenge Question #1:
"If different hummingbird species are so difficult for humans to tell apart, what clues do you suppose hummingbirds use to recognize one another?"
(To answer this question, please follow the instructions below.)
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Ruby-throated Hummingbirds aren't migrating yet, but we have one report from Sarasota, Florida, of an over-wintering male. There have also been hummingbird sightings from other eastern states as far north as New York! But remember, most hummingbirds found in the east in winter are actually vagrants from the west.
The first migrating Ruby-throats usually start appearing in March, but there may be one or two more wintering in the south. Once again, we're lucky at Journey North to have Lanny Chambers closely tracking Ruby-throated Hummingbird migration again this year, and sharing his wonderful maps.
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| Rufous Hummingbird Courtesy of Jerry Blinn. Copyright by Jerry Blinn. |
On February 2, some people hungry for spring may look for groundhogs, but people in Oregon found a better sign of the coming spring: Rufous Hummingbirds arriving! (Last year's first migrant Rufous turned up on February 5, and in 2000 the first was seen on February 4.)
A big thanks to Mike Patterson who runs a study about Hummingbirds and Flowers at Oregon's Neawanna Wetland Ecological Observatory. Mike shares Rufous sightings and news with us once again this spring. On February 8 and 9, Mike had additional reports from California and Oregon. But his big news was a February 8 report from all the way up in Port Renfrew, British Columbia!
Mike notes that this year he had some December and January records from farther north than Rufous Hummingbirds usually winter, including Seattle. So it's possible the British Columbia bird spent the entire winter pretty far north. "It has been a very mild winter, averaging 4-5 degrees F. higher than the previous two years for January," Mike writes. "This year it's going to be a challenge to sort the migrants that have come a long way from the migrants that came from down the street..."
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Rufous Hummingbird Courtesy of Mike Patterson |
Mike has been tracking Rufous Hummingbirds for several years. He is finding that Rufous Hummingbirds seem to time their migration up the West Coast as the spring flowers open. Sure enough, Mike's study reveals that several West Coast flowers are blooming early this year:
- Manzanita is flowering at New River ahead of previous years.
- Hooker's Willow is flowering at least as far north as the Columbia River with well developed catkins showing at least two weeks ahead of usual. (What's a catkin? Find out here!)
- The first Indian-plums are in bloom along the Columbia River
- Evergreen Huckleberry is beginning to bloom in open areas around Fort Stevens State Park.
- The big surprise (for me at least) was finding a single Salmonberry with two cold damaged blossoms. These are at least three weeks ahead the main open area blooms for this species.
If YOU see a Rufous Hummingbird in the West, make sure you report it to Mike Patterson. And if you see hummers, make sure you let him know if any flowers are blooming, too!
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| Photo of immature male Rufous Hummingbird by Bill Hilton, Jr. |
How would you feel if a rare bird turned up in your own backyard? Gerry Stewart was thrilled when a Rufous Hummingbird (named "Rufie") appeared in her northern Tennessee yard on October 16, 2002. If that wasn't exciting enough, Rufie kept coming for several days, and then reappeared in November. Gerry kept a diary about Rufie's comings and goings. Read the first installment (October entries) of Rufie's diary and see graphs of the data Gerry recorded. What surprise did Gerry get when some banders came to band Rufie?
Bill Hilton Jr. keeps records of all hummingbirds wintering in the eastern United States. Read about his work, and how you can report any of your own wintering hummingbirds here:
After reading about Bill Hilton Jr's work as well as The Rufie Chronicles, come back and share your thinking:
Challenge Question #2:
"Every year more and more Rufous Hummingbird appear in the eastern United States in winter. Give at least three reasons why winter reports of Rufous Hummingbirds might be increasing."
(To answer this question, please follow the instructions below.)
How to Respond to Today's Challenge Questions:
IMPORTANT: Answer only ONE question in each e-mail message.
1. Address an e-mail message to: jn-challenge-humm@learner.org
2. In the Subject Line of your message write: Challenge
Question # 1 OR #2.
3. In the body of EACH message, give your answer to ONE of the questions
above.
The Next Hummingbird Migration Update Will Be Posted
on February 25, 2003.
Copyright 2003 Journey
North. All Rights Reserved.
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