Day 5 cont: Hummers

The last trip of the week was by far the most up close and personal with the birds. Sarah and I both attended a trip entitled Hummingbird Banding, hosted by Susan Campbell. This trip was to the hummingbird feeders at a private residence in Manteo, and it was informative to say the least.

The Leader, Susan Campbell, is a federally licensed bird bander who lives out near Raleigh and is one of 3 hummingbird banders in the state of NC. In 1999 the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences began investigating occurrences of unusual and unexpected hummingbirds in NC during the months from October to March. Susan, in collaboration with Master Banders Bob and Martha Sargent, (founders of the Hummer/Bird Study Group) is the research lead our area. She gave us plenty of information about hummingbirds and even how to care for them during the winter months, should one decide to stay. The Eastern part of NC seems to be unique in that it stays mildly temperate even throughout most of the cold months. This, according to Susan, is due to the Gulf Stream current that feeds warm air even in the most dire of straits. Indeed, so unique is this oceanic warming trend that hummers are hard pressed to survive in the middle of the state, they must stick to the coast. Also, contrary to popular belief, the sugar water that we put out in the winter is only an addition to what the hummers need to survive, insects. During migration, spring and fall, they may stock up at the feeder but on breeding and wintering habitat they love the bugs. No bugs, no hummers.

To the trapping, Susan set up a trap around a feeder in the main yard and it was not long before a little male was wheeling his way to the lure. (hummers can see red from a quarter to half a mile away) After capturing him in the wire cage, she extracted him, weighed/measured him and put a band on him. Here she is checking his throat for fat, he was plenty healthy.

This is a picture of the tiny little bands, they weigh .0017 grams and Susan said, by weight, they are akin to a person wearing a wristwatch.

After the band was in place, Susan checked that it wasn't a hindrance and then painted him with a white dot on the top of his head. A good idea since there it's virtually impossible to see that little band when their legs are tucked up during flight. Once the banding was completed, we fed him, posed him for pictures and he was released. Make sure you inspect the pictures to see the beginning of the gorget feathers on the throat coming in. This little guy only had three and was probably only 2-3 months old. Check out the video below.