WELCOME TO NEW ENGLAND HUMMERS!
A Research Project designed to learn more about our Ruby-throated Hummingbirds
Our Ruby-throats are here, and the 2009 nesting season is underway (see photos at Summer News and Notes below). Arrival was early this year: on April 4 and 5 (very early), the first hummingbirds were reported from CT and from MA. There were 21 'first bird' reports between April 4 and April 20, 2009, in the six New England states. This compares to 11 reports April 4 through 20, 2008, and 7 in 2007.
On April 26,2009, reports began coming in from New Hampshire, on April 27 from Maine, and on April 28 from Vermont. By May 3, hummers had spread across most of New England, except for the most northerly and high-elevation locations (see map). Between May 3 and 16, hummers finally arrived in many northern and high-elevation areas. See comparison maps at this link:
FIRST BIRD REPORTS AND MAPS 2009 Includes MAPS as of MAY 3 and 16, 2009.
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SUMMER YARD COUNT: During the week of July 25-31, 2009, New England Hummers will be sponsoring a Yard Count. To participate, you must be monitoring your yard for hummingbirds, have hummingbird feeders and/or plantings in your yard, and reside in a New England state or in New York east of 75 degrees longitude. Here are the instructions:
1) Choose any single day between July 25 and July 31, 2008.
2) Count the number of different adult male, adult female, and juvenile (hatch-year) Ruby-throated Hummingbirds which visit your yard and feeders on this day. Our only goal is to come up with a total number of birds visiting. We expect that many people's age and sex identifications will not necessarily be correct, but believe that attempting to identify their age and sex helps in getting a more accurate total of yard visitors. Use the id tips at this link-- Identification of immature Ruby-throats --as well as flight habits and patterns and other behavioral characteristics, or markings, to separate individual birds.
3) Do not count number of visits to the feeder, or how fast the sugar water is emptied. Count the number of different birds. It is best to do the count at one time, say, early evening. Having two or more people counting at once is helpful.
Note: We are discontinuing our May Yard Count.
CLICK HERE TO REPORT Your 2009 JULY Yard Count (New England STATES AND EASTERN new york ONLY)
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OUT-OF-RANGE HUMMINGBIRDS REPORTED IN NEW ENGLAND 2008
Please report any non-Ruby-throated sightings to nehummers@comcast.net
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Hal Klavsen of East Walpole, MA, recorded an exciting spectacle at his feeders this May: two male Ruby-throats showing their famed aggressive and territorial behavior. One hummer attacked the other, knocking him off the feeder to the ground, where they wrestled for a long time. What was particularly interesting in this case is that when it became clear that neither male could drive off the other, the two finally decided to share a companionable drink!
Hal writes:
Pictures 1 -3 show the "initial attack" where one male
absolutely bombed the other male sitting quietly at the feeder, enjoying a
drink.... notice in picture 2 & 3 how he was knocked clear off the feeder. The
fight continued to the ground (pictures 4,5) and lasted a good 45 seconds while
on the ground. (Yes - there are two birds in every shot). Picture 6 shows
them enjoying a sip of nectar at the same feeder (I have six in close proximity
of each other) - and this is AFTER the fight. They continued fighting back and
forth for an additional 20 - 25 minutes. Quite a show.
Pat Folsom, of Mad River Birders, Waitsfield, VT, sent in this great 5/26/09 photo of a mother Ruby-throat sitting on her beautifully-constructed nest. If you find a hummer nest, please send a short report to us here at New England Hummers. Please do not harass the bird, and do not reveal the location of the nest. In many parts of New England, nesting and fledging of hummers may have been adversely affected by our prolonged spell of cool, rainy weather this June.
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RESEARCH REPORTS AVAILABLE
New England Hummers is pleased to announce the availability of two research reports based on data submitted by hummingbird observers.
Research Report No. 1: "Spring Arrival of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds in New England, 2003-2005," presents charts of daily variations in numbers of arrival reports, and identifies an average arrival date for each of these years. It utilizes scatterplots to give a picture of the migration movement across latitudes. These analyses are for New England as a whole, but are planned for particular states as well. To read this report as a .pdf file, click here
Research Report No. 3: "First Hummingbird Reports in Eastern and Central Massachusetts 1933-2006: A Trend toward Earlier Arrivals?" reviews historical "First Sightings" for two areas of New England where there is a long time series of published data. Data cover the last 74 years, from 1933-2006. The analysis demonstrates a trend toward earlier first bird reports, and discusses whether this indicates actual earlier arrivals or simply increased observer interest and effort. To read this report as a .pdf file, click here.
Articles summarizing and updating these reports by New England Hummers have appeared in New Hampshire Bird Records, Vol. 25, No. 1, Spring 2006; and Bird Observer, Vol. 35, No. 3, June 2007.
Previous Reports:
FIRST BIRD REPORTS 2008 (Arrival data for 2008, Arrival Summary and Maps)
FIRST BIRD REPORTS 2007 (Arrival data for 2007, and Maps through 5/31)
FIRST BIRD REPORTS 2006 (Arrival data and maps for 2006)
FIRST BIRD REPORTS 2005 (Commentary and Data)
FALL 2006 RUBY-THROATED MIGRATION (Late and Last Sightings)
FALL 2005 RUBY-THROATED MIGRATION (Late and Last Sightings)
Fall 2004 Ruby-throated Migration (Late/Last Sightings)
OUT-OF-RANGE HUMMINGBIRDS REPORTED IN NEW ENGLAND 2005 (Check this for how one Rufous survived a New England Winter)
OUT-OF-RANGE HUMMINGBIRDS in NEW ENGLAND 2004
NEWS AND NOTES, SUMMER 2007 (Hummer banding in Newbury, MA)
NEWS AND NOTES, FALL 2006 (Hummer migration, RTHU Banding data, more)
NEWS AND NOTES, SUMMER 2005 (Five 2005 Nest Reports; and "Will Rubies sit on your finger?")
Identification and Other Instructions at the following links:
Feeder Maintenance: Instructions, Tips, and "Where did my Hummers go?"
New England Hummers is a research project designed to learn more about our beautiful Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris), as well as other less common species of hummingbirds in New England. Our region includes the six states of Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine. The Project Director is Sharon Stichter (see below).
The aims of the project, with respect to Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, are:
To update existing information on arrival and departure dates for different locations in our region, tracking yearly variations.
To add to existing maps of the distribution of hummingbirds across the region, identifying possible migration corridors, hotspots and areas lacking in hummingbirds.
To estimate year-to-year hummingbird population variations during nesting season, as well as numbers of migrants.
To determine what species of woody vegetation and what ecological niches hummingbirds are using as nesting sites.
To investigate the impact of feeders on hummingbird populations and distribution.
To report research results on these web pages and to cooperate with and provide data to other nationwide hummingbird tracking efforts.
This project depends on citizen observation as the primary source of data. We welcome the assistance of birders, gardeners and nature lovers in actively looking for and reporting sightings of Hummingbirds and Hummingbird nests. We would also welcome your participation as a site or feeder monitor.
HOW TO REPORT YOUR SIGHTINGS: Please report your sightings directly to New England Hummers here on the website, using our on-line form. Or, simply report the sighting to the birding listserve in your state. These include: MassBird - RIBirds - NH.Birds - Maine-Birds and VTBird . Connecticut sightings may now be reported on the new CTBirds. These listserves are monitored by New England Hummers and your report if appropriate will be entered into our database. To report on-line, "Click here"
HOW TO BECOME A SITE MONITOR: If a number of hummers regularly visit your yard or feeder area, you are in a good position to become a Site Monitor. To apply, send an email describing the plants and feeders at your site, and your nearest street or road intersection (street address not necessary) to nehummers@comcast.net. Site Monitors agree to report numbers of hummers seen by age and sex on a day in the last week of May and in the last week of July. They also report their first and last hummer sightings, arrival of juveniles, and possible hummer nests. Site Monitors are collecting population and migration data which may contribute important new information about New England hummingbirds. If accepted as a Site Monitor, you will receive occasional mailings, reporting instructions, and tips for identifying birds by age and sex. To report on-line as a Site Monitor, "Click here".
WRITE TO US! We have space on the website for contributions from you, our readers and visitors. Send in your questions about hummers, your own experiences and anecdotes, and any data you may have from monitoring feeders in your yard. Send your contributions, long or short, to us at nehummers@comcast.net We'll edit them and put them up under relevant topics.
Links to other Hummingbird Information and Research:
Lanny Chambers' Ruby-throated Hummingbird migration maps Day to day progress of the spring arrival of Ruby-throats across eastern United States
Stacy Peterson's Trochilids website - Mapped the occurrence of "out of range" "winter hummingbirds" of all species across North America 1999-2004, and continues to keep some rarity records.
Bob Sargent's Hummer/Bird Study Group - Hummer expert and Master Bander, based at Fort Morgan, Alabama
Operation Ruby Throat -The Hummingbird Project- Bill Hilton's banding and hummingbird education project, based in South Carolina
Ontario Hummingbirds To report your Ontario sightings and learn more about hummingbirds in Ontario.
Quebec Hummingbirds: http://www.projetcolibris.org/English For an interesting new site monitoring and tracking Ruby-throats in Quebec, go to this site!
ABOUT THE PROJECT DIRECTOR: Sharon Stichter has been observing birds and butterflies for many years, and is Editor of the journal Massachusetts Butterflies. She is also Professor Emerita of Sociology at the University of Massachusetts at Boston. She maintains a large Hummingbird and Butterfly garden in Newbury, MA, providing bed and breakfast to many Hummers!
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Page updated July 2, 2009 © Sharon Stichter 2007, 2008, 2009. All rights reserved.