Great hummingbird banding day

Wed Jul 25 22:08:21 EDT 2007

Russ,

There are perhaps a half-dozen similar sites that I know about in Michigan. I'm trying to figure out the common denominator, but have not yet succeeded. Other researchers in other states are likewise trying to figure out what factors come into play with these large concentrations. Open space around the yard seems to be one factor, as well as surrounding open woodland (hummers don't nest in dense woods - they're edge species). 

In southern states, hummingbird banders have come up with some formulas that seem to work here as well. For example, if you have continuous activity at your feeder, you very likely have 4-5 times as many birds as your maximum count. My own banding at such sites supports this. At places where only one or two birds are seen, and at intervals of 20-30 minutes (like my yard), counting the number of visits in an hour is close to the total number. The bottom line is, there are almost always more birds around than you see at one time.

Allen Chartier
amazilia1 at comcast.net
1442 West River Park Drive
Inkster, MI  48141
Website: http://www.amazilia.net
Michigan HummerNet: http://www.amazilia.net/MIHummerNet
===============================================
Every day, the hummingbird eats its own weight in food.
You may wonder how it weighs the food. It doesn't.
It just eats another hummingbird.
---Steven Wright
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Russell Emmons 
  To: Allen Chartier ; MICH-CHAT ; HUMNET-L ; HUMBAND 
  Sent: Wednesday, July 25, 2007 3:35 AM
  Subject: Re: Great hummingbird banding day

  Alan: What do you attribute as the reason for these numbers? Is this situation unique to her place or maybe just certain places? and why? Or is this potentially a situation that can be possibly at many others and not be known? In other words, as an example we have Hummingbirds visiting our feeder(s) all day long. We assume it is the same 3 or 4. Could this mean then in fact the Hummingbirds we are seeing are several or even many individuals visiting? I have never seen a Hummingbird with a band or for that matter few other birds. Perhaps I better pay closer attention!

  Russ Emmons, St. Clair county

    ----- Original Message ----- 
    From: Allen Chartier 
    To: MICH-CHAT ; HUMNET-L ; HUMBAND ; BIRDERS at UMICH 
    Sent: Tuesday, July 24, 2007 9:54 PM
    Subject: Great hummingbird banding day

    Hello Everyone,

    Early yesterday morning (July 23), I headed over to Battle Creek, Michigan, to band hummingbirds at one of my favorite places in the state - Mary Bird's home/hummer haven. I was joined by Brenda Keith, who has a subpermit under mine and who banded all the birds, and Rich Keith, our newly designated master trapper :-) I supervised, recorded data, and color marked the birds before release.

    I've been banding hummingbirds at Mary's since 2004, and have tried to get to her place once each month from June through September. In 2004 we banded 40 birds (none in "summer"); in 2005 we banded 101 birds; in 2006 we banded 102 birds (see http://www.amazilia.net/MIHummerNet/CAL3.HTM). In June of this year, we banded 37, and recaptured 6 from previous years (1 from 2006, 4 from 2005, and 1 from 2004). Yesterday, we were expecting somewhat fewer birds, as is typical for July as females are busy feeding young that have not yet fledged. Mary met us in the morning, and told us that her numbers were down, and that she wasn't filling the feeders as much as she had been.

    We were totally amazed when, after three hours of banding we had banded 46 new hummingbirds. Even more amazing was the recaptures, which was the best I've ever experienced in a single session. We recaptured 23 birds. Four were banded in June 2007, 7 were from 2006, 10 were from 2005, and 2 were from 2004. All but two of these recaptures were females. And, as an added bonus, the first young of the year was banded as well...typically I don't catch any before July 25, although one did fledge from a nest in Monroe County some time around July 15 this year.

    I can't wait to see what's in store for us at Mary's place in August! We've already banded 83 birds (82 adults), so we'll almost certainly band more than 100 again this year, with the potential for learning even more in future years about return rates and survivorship of these amazing birds.

    Allen Chartier
    amazilia1 at comcast.net
    1442 West River Park Drive
    Inkster, MI  48141
    Website: http://www.amazilia.net
    Michigan HummerNet: http://www.amazilia.net/MIHummerNet
    ===============================================
    Every day, the hummingbird eats its own weight in food.
    You may wonder how it weighs the food. It doesn't.
    It just eats another hummingbird.
    ---Steven Wright

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