This is a wonderful post Marty and Mary Jean. Thanks so much for this in-depth recap and for all the additional updates regarding banding and survival. Seems like she knew a good home when she saw one.
Linda Orkin Ithaca, NY Sent from my iPhone On Nov 18, 2012, at 9:18 PM, Marty Schlabach <[email protected]> wrote: > The Rufous Hummingbird, which has been regularly seen at our feeders on > Powell Road since Oct 3, was last seen on Thursday November 15. Between Oct > 3 and Oct 16 I posted a couple of times that we still had a hummingbird, and > usually got a query or two about whether it was possibly a Rufous. I > dutifully replied that it looked like a female Ruby-Throated Hummingbird to > me. > > Finally on the 16th I posted that I got a better look and it appeared to have > some rusty color on its side. Jay McGowan immediately contacted me about > coming out the next morning. He and two others were here at 7:30am on > October 17 and confirmed, with only a small amount of doubt, that it was a > female Rufous Hummingbird. They left a small chance that it might be an > Allen’s. Jay’s photos > https://picasaweb.google.com/111137855303614931880/Fall2012#5800340256025985554 > were terrific and showed the rufous color on the sides and the spread > tail, even noting the width of the tail feathers, further confirming the > specie. His posting to eBird provided additional description > http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S11818250. Chances are this was > the same bird observed by Naomi Brewer on September 16 at her home just north > of Sheldrake Point, which is about 3 miles north of our home on Powell Rd in > the Town of Covert. > Jay’s confirmation of the sighting was followed by a parade of birdwatchers, > many of whom contacted me before and/or afterward about stopping by. Since > the bird was confirmed a Rufous on the 17th, it has been seen by us or other > visiting birders almost every day. In addition to Cayuga Basin birders, > visitors have come from Elmira, Binghamton, Canandaigua, and Genesee County, > and probably other areas that I’ve forgotten or didn’t even hear about. > > On Sunday, November 4, birdbanders Bob Yunick, of Schenectady, NY and Bob > Pantle of Candor, were joined by Anne Cooke, a birdbander-in-training, and > came to our house to band the Rufous Hummingbird. Bob Yunick has banded > many hummingbirds including many late season Rufous Hummingbirds in the > northeast. From measurements and feather shapes Bob Yunick confirmed that > this hummer was a hatching-year female Rufous Hummingbird. On November 22 of > last year he banded an immature female Rufous in East Arlington, VT and that > bird continued to visit the feeder until January 17. During that time, > temperatures often went below freezing and indeed several times below 0oF. > The last day it was seen temperatures reached -8oF. Bob Yunick published > this in North American Bird Bander 37(1): 18-21 (2012). > > Subsequent to meeting with Bob Yunick, he forwarded me contact info for Bob > Sargent, a hummingbird expert in Alabama http://www.hummingbirdsplus.org/ . > (Is everyone who is interested in hummingbirds named Bob?) Bob Sargent > provided suggestions on how others have succeeded in keeping hummingbird > feeders from freezing when the temperatures dropped below freezing. It > didn’t turn out to be necessary to put a heat lamp on the feeder to keep from > freezing, but on quite a few occasions, I brought in the feeder at night to > keep it from freezing and put it out early the next morning. > > It had also been suggested that I add amino acids to the sugar water > solution. I didn’t go down that road, but I did begin scheming how to > provide insects, inquiring among some entomologists to see if anyone might > have insects that I could feed to the hummer. Flightless fruit flies were > suggested. Given the relatively mild temperatures over the last several > weeks, I instead captured some fruit flies in our house and stored them in > the refrigerator. The idea was to put them outside near the nectar feeder on > a cold day, providing some protein for the hummer, when it might be hard for > it to otherwise find insects. That too became unnecessary, as we had below > freezing nights, but above freezing days meant that the hummer was able to > find insects themselves. Indeed, we observed the Rufous Hummingbird hawking > insects as well as searching window corners for insects and spiders. The > hummer also was regularly seen perching in the apple trees near the feeder. > It’s quite possible that insects were to be found around the remaining aging > fruit. > > We feel incredibly fortunate to have hosted this visitor from the western > part of the US for more than a month. And we were glad to share views of > this rarity with many area birders. Perhaps the lesson to all of us is to > keep our hummingbird feeders up well after we think our lone specie, the > Ruby-throated, has headed to warmer climes for the season. > > Marty Schlabach > Mary Jean Welser > ====================================== > Marty Schlabach [email protected] > 8407 Powell Rd. home 607-532-3467 > Interlaken, NY 14847 cell 315-521-4315 > ====================================== > > -- > Cayugabirds-L List Info: > Welcome and Basics > Rules and Information > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave > Archives: > The Mail Archive > Surfbirds > BirdingOnThe.Net > Please submit your observations to eBird! > -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
