4 replies to this topic

[camay2327]

This is a great article on Hummingbirds.  Check it out....

 

Insights on hummingbird travel, life span revealed

 

 Hummingbirds are giving up some of their secrets.

The perfecting of placing tiny numbered bands on their legs in the last decade has led researchers to discover hummingbirds can live longer than 10 years as opposed to the two or three once thought likely.

And astonishing migrations have been found, with a Rufous hummingbird caught in Florida one winter showing up the following summer more than 3,500 miles away in southeast Alaska. Some birds have even been discovered wintering in areas where temperatures drop below zero degrees.

"We're learning a lot about hummingbirds through banding we never would have learned otherwise," said Bruce Peterjohn, chief of the bird banding laboratory for the U.S. Geological Survey's Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Laurel, Maryland.

 

// go to //

 

http://news.yahoo.co...-161925332.html

 

[ducky]

Wow, ten years.  I didn't use to keep feeders, but when a neighbor moved out that did I felt for the little buggars.  I'm up to three feeders.  If I'm working in the yard, they dive bomb me if the feeders are on empty.  Now I try and find flowering plants they like to put in hanging planters.

[camay2327]

Flowers work. I presently have four humming bird feeders out. Sometimes I have five.

 

I have had as many as 34 in my back yard at one time.

 

During the colder months (DEC - FEB) we get between 2 -10.

 

I am starting Project Feeder Watch again tomorrow that runs out to the

first week of February.

 

Enjoy.

[camay2327]

Look at this.  WOW...

 

Lost hummingbird gets lift from St. Paul to Texas

A hummingbird has finally made its way south for the winter after accidentally ending up in Minnesota.

 

The rufous hummingbird was released Sunday in Texas after being flown there on a private jet supplied by an anonymous donor, according to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota.

 

"We are delighted that the rufous hummingbird is free in the wild and able to decide when and where he goes on life's journey," said Phil Jenni, executive director of the Roseville wildlife center.

 

The bird was brought to the center earlier this month after it ended up at the feeder of a St. Paul homeowner. The woman rescued the hummingbird after she realized it wasn't likely to survive the unseasonably cold weather at the time.

 

Experts believe the same system that brought the wintry weather blew the rust-colored bird off its migratory course, the Star Tribune (http://strib.mn/1FkKfFH ) reported.

 

Federal officials said the bird should have been allowed to find its own way to Mexico, where it typically migrates for the winter.

But the bird, which weighed less than a penny, was considered somewhat underweight for migration, Jenni said. And with temperatures dipping close to zero, the wildlife center decided to transport the bird to a wildlife rehabilitator in Texas.

 

There have only been 16 documented sightings of rufous hummingbirds in Minnesota since the 1970s, according to Jenni. The bird is most commonly found in the Pacific Northwest.

 

 

 

 

 

http://news.yahoo.co...-213512389.html

[camay2327]

Right now we have over 15 hummingbirds at our feeders. We have had as many as 45 at one time.

I presently have 5 feeders out. 4 - 4 cup feeders and  1 - 1 cup feeder. Three have 6 feeding holes and two have 10 feeding holes.

 

I am filling them up like every day or two. I think I have gone through 40 pounds of sugar this last month. Yes, 4 10 pound bags.

 

I love it though. Love to see the hummingbirds.

 

I am again starting Project Feeder Watch for the 2015-2016 season that runs from 14 November 2015 and ends on 8 April 2016.

 

 

 

Q. What is a hummingbird nest like?
A. It is not much bigger than a ping-pong ball, a bottle cap, or a walnut shell. The female makes the nest with tiny bits of leafy material including little lichens, and weaves it together with spider silk. She builds the nest on a branch in a tree. A hummer will not use a birdhouse.

Q. What are hummingbird eggs like?
A. Each egg is the size of a small jellybean, a coffee bean, or a tic tac. There are two eggs in a clutch and the eggs are white.

Q. How long does it take for hummingbird eggs to hatch?
A. Ruby-throats incubate for 11 - 16 days until the eggs hatch. Rufous hummers incubate for 15 - 17 days.

Q. How much do newly hatched hummingbirds weigh?
A. Ruby-throats weigh 0.62 grams when they hatch. This means 3 newly hatched hummers would weigh less than one American dime.

Q. What do hummers feed their nestlings?
A. When the chicks hatch, they need protein, not sugar, to grow. So mother hummer spends most of her time catching small insects and spiders for them.

Q. When do young hummingbirds learn to fly?
A. Rufous and ruby-throated hummingbirds both begin to fly when about 21 days old.

Q. How long do hummingbirds live?
A. Most hummingbirds die their first year, but when they've survived a full annual cycle, their life expectancy goes up dramatically. The record age of a banded ruby-throated hummingbird is 6 years, 11 months. The record age of a banded rufous hummingbird is 8 years 1 month.

Q. How do female hummingbirds select a mate?
A. Male hummingbirds, along with many other animals, have what is known as a territory. A territory is simply an area that a male occupies and chases other males away from. A female hummingbird will visit a male's territory, at which time the male performs a courtship display to try to convince the female that he is the best male around. If she likes his display, she will mate with him. If not, she moves on to another territory.

Q. Do hummingbirds mate for life?
A. No. They don't even stay together to raise the babies. The female does ALL the nest building, incubating, and caring for the babies herself, and a male hummer will mate with any females that he can attract to his territory. These are NOT romantic birds.

 

 

http://learner.org/j...life_cycle.html

 

Also:

 

http://cams.allabout...s_Hummingbirds/

 

 

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