The 2022 Ruby-throat migration season is coming to a close. The last of the hummingbirds are trickling through and will continue to do so for a few more weeks however our banding season has come to a close. It was a successful season because of our hosts and volunteers. I couldn’t do this work without each and every one of them.
Here’s a short summary of our season:
- We banded 2020 ‘new’ Ruby-throated hummingbirds at 25 hummer host locations, including repeat visits to 6 of them, from June 22nd thru September 14th.
- We recaptured 172 return ruby-throats from previous years, including THREE six-year-old females and TWELVE 3-year-old hummingbirds.
- We attended and did banding demonstrations at 6 hummingbird festivals in TN, KY and MS.
- I did 4 hummingbird presentations both in person and on Zoom.
- We traveled 3,549 miles and spent ~180 hours ‘in the field’.
- We had a crew of 9 wonderful regular volunteers, my fantastic SPAC crew and an assortment of willing and able hosts.
- We had a surprise visit from an adult male Allen’s Hummingbird at the home of Linda Fields on August 24th.
- We are taking part in a study about the affects of pesticides on hummingbirds and Dr. Lisa Tell from UC Davis Vet School in California visited with us in September and we collected the first feathers samples for this study.
- All records have been turned in to all reporting agencies.
- New bands have been ordered for next season and permit renewal applications have been filled out where needed. In other words, we’re already preparing for next season!
But before I get too ahead of myself, a reminder that winter hummingbird season is just around the corner. We hope you’ll consider keeping at least one feeder out this winter in hopes of getting one of those rare western hummingbirds. And if you do, we hope you’ll give us a call and allow us to come identify it and band it for our collaborative continuing winter hummingbird study. And speaking of…we had our first paper published on that very subject. Here’s a link if you’re so inclined to read it. https://tnbirds.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/29764-TOS-Migrant-Mar22-r4.pdf
Again, my sincere and most heartfelt THANKS to each of you. I am most grateful.
Cheers!
Cyndi
Southeastern Avian Research
