Rufous Hummingbird and other vagrant hummingbirds

 

An adult female Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus) perches atop her favorite perch. This species, a rare visitor to Ohio, was visiting a feeder at a home only 10-15 minutes from my house. On November 23, Shauna and I ran down to have a gander at the little beauty.

The hosts, Dan and Sally Carlstrom, were exceptionally gracious in allowing visitors. Probably 150 or more birders visited, and nearly all saw the bird.

Ohio's first record of Rufous Hummingbird dates to August 15, 1985, when a male appeared at the feeders of Midge and Perry Van Sickle in Westerville. It remained for three days and was seen by over 100 people, your narrator included. As is the case with all first state records, the hummingbird generated great excitement, but at that time, none of us knew what was in store.

Since that inaugural Rufous Hummingbird, dozens of other records have been documented. While still a rarity, one or two appear most years. An exceptional year was 2003, when over a dozen birds were reported. Many Ohio extralimital hummingbirds have been banded and thoroughly documented by hummingbird bander Allen Chartier of Michigan, the bird in the photo included. Right now in Ohio, there is a Ruby-throated type (possibly Black-chinned, banding should resolve that tricky identification), another Rufous Hummingbird (or Allen's, also hopefully to be resolved by banding), and our second state record Mexican Violetear (visitation by the public is not possible for this one).

The 1985 Rufous Hummingbird was the first non-Ruby-throated Hummingbird (our only breeding species) recorded in Ohio. Since then, five other species have turned up, making for seven hummingbird species for the state, and there will likely be more additions to the list.

While the advent of hummingbird feeders is often implicated in this increase, I don't think that we know with certainty that that's the cause. It may be that there have always been out-of-range hummingbirds, and their propensity for visiting feeders just brought them to light. Also, the horticultural industry has managed to produce many plants with flowers that produce blooms late into the year, and this may be a contributing factor in the eastward wandering of western hummingbird species - which all of our vagrants (with one exception) are. The exception is the Mexican Violetear (Colibri thalassinus), a species of southern Mexico and Central and South America.

Wayward birds such as these are often termed vagrants. That's not a good word for them, in my opinion. "Vagrant" means someone/something without a home, that idly wanders about. That's not the case with these hummingbirds. They have well-defined breeding and wintering grounds, and their seasonality in both is also well-defined, as is their migration. Furthermore, a number of so-called vagrant birds, including some hummingbirds, have returned to their "vagrant" haunts year after year. While no one knows exactly where they go for the breeding season (most extralimital hummingbirds turn up in late fall/early winter), for all we know they return to the breeding grounds, find a mate, and nest.

I wonder if they might be better termed "scouts". Virtually all populations of animals, especially highly mobile birds, are constantly expanding/contracting their ranges for a variety of reasons. And the former - expansion - can only occur if scouts are exploring beyond the normal range, in search of new inhabitable lands.

Two rare (for Ohio) birds

As always, click the photos to enlarge

A gorgeous first-year (I believe) female vermilion flycatcher hawks insects from a branch low over a marsh. While common nesters in parts of the southwest U.S. - with most birds wintering south of the border - the vermilion flycatcher is a major rarity in Ohio. The bird shown in this photo is about the 7th state record, I believe.

I finally had time to go look for it on November 3rd, but Levi Schlabach and Elias Raber first found the bird on October 25. A great find by the two gentlemen and one that may have had them temporarily scratching their heads. Female vermilion flycatchers are not nearly as distinctive as the brightly marked males, and when birding the Wooster, Ohio region in late October, this flycatcher would not be high on your list of expected species. Insofar as I know, it's still there as of this writing.

This bird frequents a small portion of a large marsh in Wayne County, which is northeastern Ohio. I spent over an hour observing her, and she seemed to be catching many a bug, in spite of cool temperatures. Most of our records come from late fall and early winter, with at least one or two lingering into December, so this species can endure frosty weather.

Fortuitously, this little animal was only twenty-five minutes from the aforementioned vermilion flycatcher, in nearby Holmes County. A stunning adult male rufous hummingbird and another western species, it turned up at the feeders of Martha Gingrich Weaver and family. I made this image as the bird perched atop prominent branch tips of an ornamental crabapple, from which it sallied after small flying insects. The bird also made regular trips to nearby hummingbird feeders for sugar-water fixes.

The first Ohio record of rufous hummingbird dates to 1985, and we've had dozens of records since. It's still quite the rarity, with only a few birds seen in any given year, and very few of those have been showy males as is this bird. Like the flycatcher, it's a westerner and the hardiest of the U.S.-breeding hummingbirds, nesting all the way into Alaska and at high elevations in the Rockies. Martha first saw it on October 23, and it's still there as of today. The Weavers have been extraordinarily gracious in allowing visitors and at the time of my visit, well over 100 people had been there to admire the spunky rufous hummingbird.

This November 3 rare bird safari offered the possibility of a trifecta, but alas, it was not to be. Right on my driving route from Columbus, and only 30 minutes or so from the vermilion flycatcher was a cooperative pomarine jaeger. The gull-like kleptoparasite was frequenting a large reservoir and was found by Sue Evanoff and Sue Snyder on October 29. The vast majority of jaegers that appear in Ohio occur on Lake Erie, and one on an inland reservoir is always extraordinary. Reservoir jaegers nearly never linger for any length of time, let alone five days as this one did. Alas, its final day was the day before I was there. It was seen late in the day on November 2, and I was there near daybreak on the next day. Somewhere in between it flew the coop.

Two out of three ain't bad, though.

Rufous Hummingbird in Central Ohio!

I get lots of calls about this or that; often from people wondering about some odd animal or plant. In the vast majority of cases, their "mystery" organism is something common, at least to me. But I'm always glad to try and help, and what's common to me may not be to others. Anyway, a few days ago I received a call from a lady who started out by saying "I'm worried about my hummingbird..."! Whoa! My ears pricked up like a jackrabbit, knowing that the bird was likely a Rufous Hummingbird, with a remote possibility of some other western species. Our only breeding species, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird, should be long gome by now and hummingbirds seen after mid-October should be closely scrutinized.

Following is a pictorial story of this hummingbird, which is frequenting a feeder near Marysville, Ohio.

I knew I was in the right place when I wheeled up to the house and saw a hummingbird stenciled on the mailbox. The homeowners are crazy about birds, especially hummingbirds, so it is especially fitting that this little rarity chose ther home to fixate on.

Today was the first day I could get to the site, but Tim Daniel, photographer for the Ohio Division of Wildlife, was able to get there two days ago and make some stunning images. From those, I knew it was a hummingbird in the genus Selasphorus - either a Rufous Hummingbird or an Allen's Hummingbird. Separating females and immature birds in the field is very tough, and our bird fit into this category. I got on the horn with expert hummingbird bander Allen Chartier of Michigan immediately after seeing Tim's images, and he was able to arrange to visit the site this morning. Capturing the bird not only reveals its identity for certain, it allows for the bird to be banded and other useful data points to be collected.

In the photo above is Allen's specially designed capture cage. The wire enclosure is hung in the same spot as the feeder that the bird visits, and the feeder then hung inside the cage. The open door is on the right side. Normally this contraption doesn't deter the hummer at all, and it'll shoot right up, circle the cage until it spots the opening, and dart right in.

Aha! About three minutes after Allen set the rig in place, our hummingbird shot onto the scene. I managed to capture this image a split second before the bird flew through the open trapdoor. That's right - trapdoor. Allen was lurking nearby with a remote trigger, and as soon as the hummingbird was in the cage and drinking from the feeder, he triggered the remote which drops that trapdoor. And we had our hummer.

You'd think placing a large cagelike structure around the feeder might raise a red flag for the hummingbird, and cause it to stay away. Not so, and it usually doesn't even slow them down. As you can see, our hummer is now within the confines of the trap.

Here comes the tricky part - extracting the elfin bird safely and without incident. I've been on numerous hummingbird bandings with Chartier, and am always impressed with how quickly he can gently remove them. Experience counts, and Allen has caught scores of hummingbirds over the last decade. He is one of very few licensed hummingbird banders in this region, and we're lucky to have access to him as a resource in Ohio.

Once the bird is in hand, it's off to the makeshift lab which has already been set up nearby. Allen first places an impossibly tiny little metal band around one of the hummer's legs, then quickly gathers other information such as weight, fat content, bill characteristics, tail features, etc. Banders keep a keen eye on the bird's behavior, watching for signs of stress, and even keep a supply of sugar water at hand. Sometimes its good to allow the bird to lap up some of the liquid during the data collecting operation, just to ensure the bird keeps its metabolism at full rev.

Here's the little beauty, up close and personal. By now we know it is an adult female Rufous Hummingbird, Selasphorus rufus, with a weight of 3.65 grams. For comparison, a new copper penny weighs 3.11 grams. In order to separate immature/female Rufous and Allen's hummingbirds, S. sasin, one must be able to carefully inspect the tail feathers, or retrices. That isn't easy to do on a hyperactive free-flying hummingbird. But in the hand, there is no problem and the characteristic features of a Rufous are obvious in this photo. The tail feathers - each is a rectrix; plural, retrices - are numbered from inner to outer. On a Rufous, retrix 2 is slightly notched, but is entire or unnotched in Allen's. Retrix 5, closer to the outer edge of the tail, is broader than the almost needlike narrow R5 of an Allen's.

When it was time to liberate the hummingbird, Allen carefully placed it in the homeowner's hand.

Sometimes the newly freed hummer will instantly dart off; other times, such as in this case, it'll just sit there for a bit looking around. After nearly a minute, little Ms. Rufous suddenly blasted off as if shot from a cannon. She roared by within inches of your blogger's ear, uttering squeaky little profanities all the while. But as always, I am prepared to put my life on the line and deal with dangerous beasts such as this hummingbird to bring you the story.

Within minutes, the Rufous Hummingbird was back at the feeder as if nothing had happened.

Ohio's first Rufous Hummingbird dates to 1985, and we've had something like 70 records since. This species' breeding range is from Oregon and Idaho north through western Canada and as far north as Anchorage, Alaska. They are exceedingly tough little birds, and quite able to deal with cold temperatures. It dipped to the high teens here last night, and it was 22 degrees when Allen caught the bird.

Banding has revealed that some of these seemingly wayward western hummingbirds will return to the same eastern locale for one or even more years. As the ones that appear at our latitude don't overwinter - this bird will probably leave before long - they obviously head to warmer climes whether it is the Gulf Coast, or the typical wintering grounds of western Mexico. Presumably they then head north to the breeding range for the summer.

The reasons for the upward surge in western and southern hummingbird species well east and north of their normal ranges is unsettled, but there are some likely explanations. That's another post however, but I'll try to put up some theories on this topic later.

More hummers - from far, far away!

My recent post on Allen's Hummingbird - Ohio's first record - prompted an e-mail from my cousin Paul, who lives many miles away. Four thousand and thirty two miles, to be exact. That's twenty one million, two hundred and eighty eight thousand, and nine hundred and sixty feet. A long way by any reckoning, and Paul dwells in a land of sometimes midnight sun, offset by short dark winter days high in snow. The Aurora Borealis dazzles with an unbelievable laser light show, and there are far fewer people where he lives.

They've got Sarah Palin up there, should you need a blatant hint about where it is of which we speak. And Paul, my cousin, who leads an interesting life. And likes birds, as we shall see.

Paul Rupple, standing near Seward, Alaska. He's a long way from the cornfields of Ashland County, Ohio, and has been up in the Great White North for a long time. I become envious whenver I see pictures of Paul/Alaska. My first big independent travel adventure was the summer after graduating high school, when a buddy and I drove a '66 Volkswagon Bug from Columbus, Ohio to Alaska.

Fantastic, unforgettable expedition, and I've wanted to go back ever since. Alaska is true wilderness, and full of wildlife. Our VW broke down - for good! - on the way back, in a place called Haines Junction in Canada's Yukon Territory. We peddled it to some guy from White Horse for $200. Ah, the memories...

Anyway, back to Paul. This is an interesting guy. Here he is on his sail boat, which he often navigates solo along Alaska's coast. Not only is he quite the skipper, he is a professional airline pilot who flies big jets packed with cargo all over the world, for Fed Ex. He's also a sled dog afficionado, and has had scores of the beasts.

And Paul likes birds.

Apparently, he's become a good photographer, too. Paul shares these photos of Rufous Hummingbirds visiting his feeders - in Alaska! The Rufous Hummingbird is one tough beast, and nests all the way up into our 49th state. In fact, they are common in SE Alaska.

Fantastic flight shot of an aerial immature male Rufous eyeing the sugar water. I think it's cool that our only state with polar bears also hosts hummingbirds. An adult male polar bear can weigh 1,500 pounds. An adult male Rufous Hummingbird might weigh 3 grams. Thus, it would take 227,000 of the hummers to balance the scales with one bear. Quite a discrepancy between these two Alaskan animals.

It's claimed that there are some 5 million Rufous Hummingbirds. That means that all of them together weigh as much as only 20 adult male polar bears. There. For whatever good that was.

It's probably a good thing that the hummers aren't 8-9 feet long and weigh 1,500 pounds. They would then most likely be the world's most dangerous animal.

Anyway, I thank Paul for checking in with the hummingbird photos, and other great shots from Alaska. And I hope he has me up to visit some time!