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Hummingbird Migration Update: May 6, 2003
Today's Report Includes:
- Rufous Hummingbirds Reach Western Limit
- Ruby-throated Hummingbird Migration Peaking!
- Once They Arrive: New Things to Watch For!
- Brood Patches: Discussion of Challenge Question #13
- Hummingbird Soup? Discussion of Challenge Question #14
- Year-End Evaluation: Please Share Your Thoughts!
Rufous Hummingbirds Reach Western Limit
Mike Patterson reports, "Rufous Hummingbirds have reached all the way to the Seward Pennisula in Alaska, just about as far west as they get. The first report from Montana at Whitefish also came in this week." Mike tells us that one of the Rufous Hummingbird?s favorite flowers during migration, Salmonberry, is past its peak along the Columbia River now, and that Black Twinberry is in full bloom! We wonder if hummingbirds can taste the difference in the nectar of different flowers.
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Rufous Hummingbird
Courtesy of Mike Patterson |
If YOU see a Rufous Hummingbird in the West, make sure you report it to Mike Patterson . And don't miss Mike?s important notice:
Mike?s Rufous Hummingbird weekly reports and maps have been a wonderful resource
for Journey North participants. We sure appreciate his expertise and willingness
to share his research with us.Thanks, Mike!
Ruby-throated Hummingbird Migration Peaking!
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Lanny Chambers saw
his first backyard hummingbird on April 23, near St. Louis. Have
you seen your first hummingbird yet? It?s hard to get this close
a look at a free-flying bird! Lanny bands hummingbirds, so he sees
them "up close and personal" all the time. |
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Ruby-throated Hummingbirds have arrived at many northern places now! Our friend and data collector, Lanny Chambers, saw his first on April 23. Lanny writes: "It was a female, and she was already wearing a band. I presume she was a resident breeder I'd banded here last year (or earlier), but I was not able to catch her to read the band. I haven't seen her for the past 3 days. A male showed up on April 25. I banded him, but haven't seen him since--just passing through, I guess. Otherwise, the flowers are blooming, but no hummers." It won?t be long! Compare Lanny?s first-sighting data for 2003 to previous years:
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| Joanne
Degen of San Diego sent these photos of the hummingbird babies in
her backyard. She waited until Mom was off the nest, getting food
for the babies. Thanks, Joanne! |
Gail Damon in Barker, New York, saw her first hummingbird on May 5, while
eating breakfast. Apparently they were enjoying breakfast together! She
writes, "So glad to see them back. I really enjoy watching them during
their brief stay here."
Gail Frenz in Brant Lake, New York, wrote on May 4, "We are so excited
that we saw our first ruby throated hummingbird of the season. She was
enjoying the nectar from our new Rhododendron. We wasted no time in putting
out the feeders and sure enough then there were 2 hummingbirds."
In Hagerstown, Maryland, Cheryl Reedy patiently waited for a week and
a half after setting out her hummingbird feeder. She was finally rewarded
on May 4 when a a Ruby-throat appeared. In the past week we have had so
many hummingbird reports that we?re suffering from data overload! But
we don?t mind. Every single report we get represents an exciting first
view of a lovely little migrant. What a happy map this is!
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Ruby-throated Hummingbird Courtesy of Lanny Chambers, Hummingbirds.net |
Thanks ever so much to Lanny Chambers for again sharing his data,
maps, expertise, and his time as Journey North?s Hummingbird Expert, to
make Journey North?s Ruby-throated Hummingbird reports so valuable to
students and teachers!
Once They Arrive: New Things to Watch For!
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Female hummingbirds
feed, construct a nest, lay and incubate eggs, and care for babies.
Males display and chase other hummingbirds away. Males don?t seem
to help their mate, but without males chasing birds away, blossoms
near a nest might get drained of nectar. Then a female would leave
the nest for longer periods to get food. |
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As soon as hummingbirds arrive on their territories, males establish their territories and females start nesting. Watch your hummingbirds closely. If you keep track of your males, you may catch one in a really cool display flight!
If you keep track of your females, and especially if you follow them with your eyes or binoculars as they leave your feeder, you may discover a nest! Sometimes hummingbirds even nest low enough to study their babies as they grow. To see baby hummingbirds nesting up close, from egg to fledgling, and learn all about what you?re seeing, look at the wonderful photos Dorothy Edgington took every day of her backyard hummingbird nest:
Brood Patches: Discussion of Challenge Question #13
Last time we asked, "Banders can use brood patches to tell female Blue Jays from male Blue Jays during the breeding season. Why isn't this a useful way to tell female Rufous Hummingbirds from males?"
Brood patches in both species are found only in adult females. Blue Jay adult males and females have identical plumage, so without evidence of a brood patch, there is really no easy way to tell jays apart. But adult Rufous Hummingbird males look very different from females, so a bander can recognize a male while the bird is still in the trap!
Hummingbird Soup? Discussion of Challenge Question #14
Last time we asked, "Is it possible that any ancient Romans ate "hummingbird soup"? Justify your answer with at least one fact from history and one fact about hummingbirds."
The Roman Empire fell long before 1492, when Christopher Columbus arrived in America. Hummingbirds are found ONLY in North, Central, and South America, so there was no way that ancient Romans could have known that hummingbirds existed, much less eaten them in soup!
Year-End Evaluation: Please Share Your Thoughts!
Please take a few minutes to share your suggestions and comments in our Year-End Evaluation Form below. The information you provide at the end of each year is the single most important tool used to guide our planning.
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Journey
North |
Thank You!
The FINAL Hummingbird Migration Update Will Be Posted on May 13*, 2003 (*data only).
Copyright 2003 Journey North. All Rights Reserved.
Please send all questions, comments, and suggestions to jn-help@learner.org
