Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2001 19:56:48 EDT Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Marshall Iliff Subject: Western hummingbird alert - do not assume Ruby-throated (Part I) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable MDOsprey, [the below email from Oct 2000 is re-posted this year in two parts (Part II=20 is a few ID tips) - I have updated some of the stats in the below post] =A0=A0=A0 This is an alert to pay attention to ALL hummingbirds from here on= =20 out.=A0Each year I see several reports (usually to the Voice of the Naturali= st)=20 of late-season hummingbirds which are almost certainly some western=20 species.=A0Many of these reports are not followed up or passed on to the=20 birding community.=A0 I would like to hear about ANY hummingbirds from 20=20 October through March (410-212-3558 (cell phone),miliff@aol.com) =A0=A0=A0 Late season hummingbirds are VERY likely to be a rare western spec= ies. Over the years Rufous has proven most common, but there are also eastern records (nearly all from late fall or winter) of Black-chinned (MA, NS, NJ),= =20 Anna's (NY, NC), Allen's (MA, NJ, DE, VA, GA), Broad-tailed (DE),=20 Broad-billed (SC, NC in Oct 2001), Calliope (NJ (2), VA, NC,GA),=20 Blue-throated (NC), and even Green Violet-Ear (NC, VA) and Green-breasted=20 Mango (NC, Nov-Dec 2000.=A0 Anyone hoping to attract these additional specie= s=20 would be well-advised to keep their hummingbird feeders up through EARLY=20 DECEMBER. =A0=A0=A0 Maryland now has over 20 records of hummingbirds in the genus Sela= sphorus=20 (which includes Rufous, Allen's, and Broad-tailed), of which at least 8 have= =20 been confirmed as Rufous.=A0 Aside from a July record from 2000 (Frederick=20 County) and two around 17 Aug, almost all have come in the late fall.=A0 The= =20 earliest arrivals have been a 12 Sep Rufous banded (and collected) in Ocean=20 City and a Rufous that arrived in Carroll County late last September.=A0Most= =20 however, appear between 15 Oct-25 Nov.=A0 I now consider Rufous Hummingbird=20= to=20 be ANNUAL and expect one-four reports per year, now that birders are attuned= =20 to the possibilities and more people keep their feeders up late. Furthermore= ,=20 records of Selasphorus hummingbirds are increasing every year. Below I list=20 the number of MD records of Rufous or Selasphorus hummingbird records by yea= r: 1952 (1 - Selasphorus-type, Frederick Co.) 1963 (1 - Rufous - collected in Ocean City) 1971 (1 - Rufous - May 1 at Lilypons) 1981 (1 - Rufous, found dead in spider web! near Solomon's, Calvert Co.) 1988 (1 - Rufous, in Tacoma Park, Montgomery, through April) 1990 (1 - Selasphorus) 1991 (1 - Selasphorus, Pocomoke City) 1993 (2 - Montomery (Selasphorus) and Cecil Co. (Rufous)) 1994 (5 - 2 birds, same feeder - Salisbury (Rufous), others in Saint Mary's,= =20 Talbot,and Montgomery Cos.) 1995 (1+ - Jim Stasz's feeder, North Beach, Calvert Co. (Rufous), two others= =20 reportedwere not confirmed) 1996 (1 - Montgomery Co., Selasphorus sp.) 1997- 0? 1998 (2+, Frederick Co. in Aug and Nov, others reported were not confirmed) 1999 (2+, at least two Rufous banded and identified, both lasted into Januar= y) 2000 (5+, Frederick Co. (July), Worcester Co. (Nov-1 Jan), Baltimore Co.=20 (mid-Nov), Dorchester Co. (Oct-Dec, possibly two birds), Talbot Co. (mid-Oct= ) #of Records by month (date of first arrival): May (1); July (1); August (2, both arrived 17 Aug); September (3); October (= 6=20 - arrivals 13, 24, 28, 30); November (13 - arrivals 4,5,8,9,13,14,17,18,21,2= 9) Many of the October and November records, and one of the September records,=20 have lingered long at the same feeder.=A0 At least three have lasted into=20 January, and one successfully wintered in Takoma Park in 1988, lasting until= =20 4/17/89! ATTRACTING THEM =A0=A0=A0 Birders hoping to attract any of these late season hummingbirds sh= ould=20 get their feeders up NOW, and not take them down until mid-December. A few=20 tips: =A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0*Put your feeder up near some areas of good cover (like ce= dar trees, boxwoods, etc.) if available.=A0 In cold weather hummingbirds will need thes= e=20 areas for roosting. =A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0*If cold weather (below freezing) is forecasted, you shoul= d take your=20 feeder=20 inside at night and put it back out in the early morning.=A0 Others have rig= ged=20 up small heaters for their feeders. A 4:1 (rather than 3:1) sugar solution=20 also helps. =A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0*If you have any late season flowers etc. those will help=20= to attract=20 late hummingbirds also.=A0 Several websites discuss hummingbird plantings an= d=20 some=20 also recommend which plants are hardy enough to last in cold weather. Perhap= s=20 Jim Stasz or other botanists/gardeners can log in with recommendations here. =A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0*Folks in Louisiana hang lots of red Christmas ribbon, red= surveyor's=20 tape, and other red items around their yards to be sure hummingbirds won't pass them by.=A0 Some believe the hummingbirds flydown pathways (like roads) and have trails of red leading from the road into their house. Once you have a hummingbird, we can point you towards other resources to hel= p=20 the bird survive its stay most comfortably. OTHER HUMMINGBIRDS =A0=A0=A0 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds in Maryland typically depart by early O= ctober.=20 The Yellow Book (Field List of the Birds of Maryland by Iliff, Ringler, and=20 Stasz 1996) shows a dashed line into early November, and late dates in mid=20 November and 3 Dec.=A0 However, several of these hummingbirds were not=20 _conclusively_identified as Ruby-throated.=A0Massachusetts has a=A0record of= =20 Black-chinned from 25 Nov-11 Dec, another Black-chinned was in Cape May 10-1= 5=20 Nov 1996, and yet another was in Halifax, Nova Scotia, 15-23 Nov 1988. =A0=A0=A0 Of the rarer species, Allen's has appeared in late August and Nove= mber.=20 Anna's have been found from mid-October to late November.=A0 Broad-tailed in= =20 November-December.=A0 The Broad-billed Hummingbird in NS appearedin late=20 September while the SC one was in July.=A0 Both Green Violet-Ears have been=20= in=20 late October. Who can forget the Green-breasted Mango that showed up in NC=20 from Nov-Dec last year?? IDENTIFCATION - see PART II of this message CONCLUSION =A0=A0=A0 My feeder is up here in Annapolis.=A0Others should hang their feed= ers if=20 they are interested in hosting these little vagrant hummingbirds.=A0 These=20 birds occur in the east far more commonly than most people realize.=A0 In 19= 96=20 Jim Stasz hung his feeder in late October and had a Rufous Hummingbird withi= n=20 a couple weeks.=A0 At Sam Pancake's well-planted yard in Takoma Park,=20 Montgomery County, Selasphorus hummingbirds havenow appeared at least twice=20 (different birds - one was banded!).=A0 Jim Dowdell's plantings in Cape May=20 have been similarly REPEATEDLY attractive to rare hummingbirds.=A0 In Louisi= ana=20 Rufous Hummingbird used to be a vagrant but winter hummingbird gardens have=20 now produced a regular wintering population that seems to be surviving well=20 and expanding in numbers! =A0=A0=A0 We still have a lot to learn about how and why these hummingbirds=20= are=20 getting here, where they go from here, and what their survivorship is.=20 Somemight fear that leaving their feeders up might induce hummingbirds to=20 stay later than they should, but this isn't really the case.=A0 For starters= ,=20 almost all Ruby-throateds aregone by now anyway.=A0 Second, if a Rufous=20 successfully winters at a feeder, it has saved a long and perilous migration= =20 where there is no certainty of finding another good food source.=A0 Third,=20 these birds arrived here of their own power and/or volition.=A0 They will le= ave=20 for better climes if they feel it is necessary.=A0Winters are hard on birds,= =20 even=20 winter birds, but remember that so is migration.=A0 It is a trade-off for bi= rds=20 whether to risk a cold winter in order to outweigh the dangers of a long=20 migration. =A0=A0=A0 A popular but (in my opinion) misguided practice recently is takin= g these=20 hummingbirds into captivity and shipping them off to California or somewhere= .=20 =A0Among other things, the individual almost certainly did not come from CA,= =20 TX,=20 orwherever else it was sent.=A0 Second, we don't know enough about bird=20 navigational systems to know if we would even be doing this bird a favor.= =A0 If=20 the hummingbird had correctly navigated to the East Coast from breeding area= s=20 in the Pacific Northwest, it would plan on returning Northwest.=A0 Would a=20 Rufous Hummingbird air-shipped to CA still fly Northwest in migration?=A0 If= =20 so,we have delivered a death sentence more grave than any Northeast winter=20 (which hummingbirds have survived). =A0=A0=A0 Put out those feeders if you wish and you may well be rewarded wit= h a=20 rare western visitor!=A0 Let us know if you are so lucky!!! Marshall Iliff miliff@aol.com Annapolis, MD ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================