Hi Birders!
Jessica and I wanted to share an update on IBO’s winter Anna’s Hummingbird project for 2017, along with a request for information. You may remember this project from posts last year, but if not, you can read about the project in more detail here: http://ibo.boisestate.edu/winter-hummers
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Wintering Anna’s Hummingbirds – Intermountain Bird Observatory
We’re studying overwintering Anna’s Hummingbirds in Idaho. Help us by sharing any hummingbird sightings from Oct…
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We are studying the range expansion of Anna’s Hummingbirds in Idaho, in collaboration with other hummingbird banders in the state (if you haven’t yet, be sure to check out the great article that Austin shared this week about Idaho’s network of banders). Since we started this wintering study in 2015 we have documented an average of about 40 Anna’s per winter in the state.
So far this year we have at least 27 confirmed individuals since October, thanks to reports from birders.
As part of our project, Francine Rudeen, Jessica, and I have been banding these overwintering Anna’s hummingbirds. We’re using this information to learn more about what ages and sexes overwinter here, whether individuals return between years, how much they move throughout the winter, and hopefully one day where they move to.
Each hummingbird we band is given a color mark to individually identify it. Every bird gets a white-out dot on their forehead that makes banded birds easy to spot from a distance when they visit a feeder. We also give birds a “necklace” of color on their chest that is unique to that individual. These color marks are temporary, but last long enough to allow us to identify the bird for a few months each winter.
So far we have color marked 7 birds in 2017. Two near Hulls Gulch, one near the Gary Lane x State Street area, two on 14th street, and two in Caldwell. Plus Francine has banded a female near Inkom.
At almost all of these places there is an additional unmarked bird hanging around that we didn’t know about until we had banded the others! This is one reason why watching for color marked birds can be so valuable.
If you see an Anna’s Hummingbird we would love to hear from you! You can email Jessica at JessicaPollock@boisestate.edu. (also, don’t forget to eBird your sighting). We will record information about the timing and location of your sighting to add to our dataset. We’re especially interested in “date first seen” and “date last seen” to help us track their migration. If your hummingbird is coming to a feeder in an area where Jessica, Francine, or I are banding, we will band your bird (if that’s something you’d be interested in).
If you see a color-marked Anna’s Hummingbird please note the date and time of your sighting and get in touch with us. Please note whether the bird is an adult male or a female-type bird, and what color marks (white dot and/or colored necklace) you were able to see.
Thanks very much for your help and information on this project!
Good Birding,
~Intermountain Bird Observatory Hummingbird Team (Heidi and Jessica)