A special visitor

July 28, 2007

Today was a special day! Allen Chartier, hummingbird expert, arrived to present his research and to capture and band our hummingbirds. Allen conducted a Powerpoint presentation about his Michigan banding research. He also shared stories of western hummingbirds being reported in the eastern United States, such as the Rufous, Anna's, and white-eared. Allen banded a Rufous hummingbird near Zanesville, Ohio in two consecutive winters and saw the bird on the third winter at the same site!

At about 10:30 a.m., Allen set up his hummingbird trap, a 2-foot by 2-foot screened metal box with a remote controlled trap door. He hung a feeder inside and then stood back along with 75 other people waiting for the hummers to make a visit. It didn't take long for a female to arrive, check out the cage, and find the door. She couldn't resist the sweet reward inside. A simple click of the remote caught our first hummingbird. Allen quickly opened the cage, removed the bird with his hands and placed it safely in a nylon bag.

Allen and his wife, Nancy set up an outdoor laboratory on a picnic table, complete with measuring tools, a scale, and data sheets. Allen held the captured bird to make specific measurements of bill length, feather length, weight, fat content, and more. The crowd gathered as close as possible to sneak a peek. The cameras were flashing like the paparazzi around Paris Hilton. I wonder if she may come to the hand-feeding program sometime?

Even with all his attention and care given to the bird, Allen was still answering questions and allowing visitors to get great views and photo ops. He and Nancy quickly recorded the necessary data and Allen attached a tiny numbered metal band to the leg of the bird. Allen used the strong eyes of a young girl and had her read the numbers off the band for Nancy to record. The young girl was rewarded with the opportunity to let the bird fly free. Allen placed it in her hand and surprisingly it remained there for a few moments until Allen blew air through its feathers and it quickly zoomed away!

I took a step back from the group as they anxiously awaited another capture. It didn't take long as another female entered the trap and Allen triggered the remote. As Allen retrieved the bird and brought it back to the table, he excitedly called out my name. "Dave! We have a recapture". Not a recapture of the first female, but a recapture from last year's banding program! Hooray! For Allen and his research, this is like hitting the lottery. The information gathered from a recapture can provide data on age, lifespan, migration, growth, and more. Allen was excited. He said it usually takes a few years of banding over 30 birds at one site before a recapture is made. He had only banded 8 birds last year. This was the highlight of the day and proved that some birds return to their nesting site in consecutive years.

After 2 hours of banding, Allen captured a total of five hummingbirds.

I learned a lot today...I didn't know that some research shows that a hummingbird diet might include as much as 50 percent insects!