Hummer peoples,
We’ve fed hummingbirds for nearly 35 years, although I refer to it as playing Kubikschach ( 3D chess ) with them 😉 We’ve fed these Lilliputians annually except for the few years we lived in Europe (UK and GE), mostly in states where we’ve lived and/or visited, however briefly: AK, OR, CA, AZ, NM, TX, FL, NV, UT, CO, and ID since 2012.
Every year brings surprises, but nothing as crazy as this year has in west Boise! So far, every arriving hummer (species and gender) has been a record early date for our yard, or a first record seasonal sighting, e.g., we’ve never entertained Rufous (RU) or Calliope (CA) in spring!! Our only expected summer resident and breeder has been Black-chinned (BC), and we’re still looking for this year’s first fBC. Please refer to chart below, wherein I hope these notes are apparent and not ambiguous.
This morning, both male and female CA were using our feeders often, and at 0943 hrs a male was displaying to a female in one of our small trees, e.g., dives, hovers, and buzzing or “shuttle-displays.” (ref: BNA species account, Calder and Calder, 1994)
What’s next? It shouldn’t surprise us, eh?
Larry
HUMMINGBIRD SPRING ARRIVAL DATES
WEST BOISE 83714
m or f refers to gender
NH – not home for obs
NA – no spring obs, not expected
year
mBC
fBC
mRU
fRU
mCA
fCA
BT
AN
2013
1-May
NH
NA
NA
2014
2-May
27-May
”
”
2015
29-Apr
18-May
”
”
2016
3-May
NH
”
”
2017
3-May
16-May
”
”
2018
28-Apr
11-May
”
”
2019
25-Apr
30-Apr
2-May
2-May
4-May
”
”