NEWS AND NOTES   --   FALL 2006

 

Ruby-throat Banding Continues in Massachusetts

Bander Anthony Hill, of South Hadley, MA,  had a very successful banding season this year. He banded 131 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds at the banding site, compared to 117 last year.  [see NE Hummers News and Notes, Fall 2005]  He also had 15 recaptures of birds banded last year, which is a return rate of 12.8%. This shows a good amount of site fidelity among hummingbirds, and is comparable to what other researchers have found.  The banding effort spanned the full season, from May through September, and thus gives an especially accurate account of hummingbird activity at this Connecticut River valley location. The dates of first and last birds banded are in line with NE Hummers' tallies of sighting reports. The first  after-hatch-year males  to arrive were two banded on May 6; the first after-hatch-year female was banded on May 11.  The first immature, or hatch-year bird which Anthony banded was on July 30--the same date on which he had the first hatch-year bird last year.  The dates of the last birds banded probably indicate roughly the timing of migrant departures:  the last after-hatch-year males were two second-years banded August 31; the last after-hatch-year female was banded on September 5; and the last immature was banded on September 19.  Nine immature birds were banded after the last adult female was found, showing that almost all of the late birds are hatch-years.

Over time, this banding effort will provide significant insights about Ruby-throats in the northeast. One thing it has already shown is how many Ruby-throats may be around in an area, unbeknownst to the average yard observer. Anthony reports that  "We almost never see more than three birds in the yard at one time..." so given the numbers of birds banded at the site,  there are definitely many more around than we think.

Complete banding data and more information is available from Anthony at anhinga13@hotmail.com . Anthony may also be contacted about banding vagrant or out-of-range hummingbirds which often arrive in New England in the autumn.

Large Hummer Migration at Lighthouse Point, CT, September 4

Veteran birder Greg Hanisek, reporting on the hummingbird count that day, writes:

"This was one of the most remarkable events I've witnessed in 45+ years of birding. I'm a regular hawk counter at Lighthouse Point and attempt to count other migrant species as manpower and circumstances allow. I routinely count migrant hummingbirds, which typically fly past in directional flight, which for southbound migrants on the Connecticut coast is roughly east-west. A normal decent flight day in late Aug-early Sep produces 20+ hummers, with numbers occasionally climbing into the 40s. We may have had as many as 70 once but I haven't had a chance to go back into my records to check that out yet.

   On Monday we started the hawk count at 7 a.m. and had a few hummers over the first two hours. Then things began to pick up. ....We then had roughly hourly 60+, 100+, 100+, 50+, 50+, 50+. The total was over 8 hours. All the birds were flybys. I saw none that were adult males, but their quick passage, usually at a bit of distance, made it difficult to determine sex.
  We have a large butterfly garden in the park that sometime attracts hummers. Observers went down there several times during the day and never saw any hummer feeding. It was strictly a high volume passage flight. We often saw 2 to 3, and at times 4-6 hummers, moving close together. Generally they would be strung out in a line with the individuals fairly close together. This seemed more a function of lots of hummers moving through a small area than what could be called flocking behavior.
  We had 4 to 6 observers throughout most of the day and the hawk flight was modest (a total of about 80 birds) so I was able to devote most of my energy to tracking the hummingbirds. Most were following a flight line along the beach, where I concentrated my efforts, usually with one helper. The others were watching for hawks in other directions and called out hummers wherever they saw them. I kept a slash mark tally of individuals throughout the entire period. There were no estimations made. Obviously with a bird this size we were missing a decent number as well. The actual number through the Point was no doubt higher than 450."

Thanks to Greg and the hawk watchers for documenting this significant hummingbird migration!

 

Enjoying Hummingbirds

 

 

 

Cynthia Drummond of Snug Harbor, RI, had a wonderful hummingbird garden this year, with lots of color, and was rewarded with the presence of at least six hummingbirds, include a late immature on October 16. In August, she sent this snapshot of a young male, who quickly learned to stake out his own territory. He was particularly fond of zinnias and verbena bonariensis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kate Bellandese, of Salem, CT, found a neat way to feed  hummingbirds, and even had two at once on the hand-held feeder!

 

 

 

 

 

      

 

   Do your hummers ever look like this?  Rob  Ranney sent this great photo of a male Ruby-throat molting in August this year in Deerfield, MA..

 

Terry Sprague, on North Haven island in midcoast Maine, had interesting hummingbirds to watch even without using a feeder, just lots of flowers. On 9/16 she wrote:   "I saw one yesterday buzzing around the garden and twice during the week. Most interesting sighting was of a youngster flying up and down and up and down very close to my living room window, looking in so to speak! I watch the activity  surrounding my songbird feeders through this window every morning and as I glanced out there was this hummer. OH, I don't feed the hummers, my garden plantings attract them naturally. The other sighting was up "close and personal" while having lunch on the deck which is covered with masses of potted plants. The little hummer tried nectaring on the petunias and geraniums for a full 5 minutes not a foot from where I sat with taking no notice of me!! Pretty cool! "

Late Hummers Choose Flowers rather than Feeders

Greg Seymour, of Westmoreland, NH, wrote in to say "It seems that the last hummers of the year that I see, which are presumably migrants from further north, are unfamiliar with using my feeders and opt to feed from jewelweed and ignore the "easy meal" at my feeders. I wonder if others notice this pattern?"  Yes, several other observers have also noticed this.  These late arrivals are migrants, yes, but are also usually either female or immature birds.  An adult male has usually previously set up a territory around a feeder, and defends it until he leaves.  Immatures and females, especially new migrating arrivals, often continue to avoid a feeder even after the dominant male has left.  But  sometimes the adult male gets challenged. In my Newbury, MA yard, all summer the feeder was used only by the adult male, and the other birds were "relegated" to the salvias (especially S. guaranitica), cupheas,  buddleias, and so forth. But for about one week before the male left, he was continually being  harassed by a young male, and chased off "his" feeder.  Finally I took pity on them and put up a second feeder.

 
 

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