Despite the chilly time of year, there have been several hummingbirds coming to feeders here in Moore County, since the fall. Between late August and mid- December, five different rufous hummingbirds were identified by local hummingbird researcher Susan Campbell. This is up from the three in 2001-2002 and two the year before that.
One of this year’s birds has been here over the past three winters along the edge of Lake Surf at the feeders of the Frazelles in Woodlake. ‘Woody,’ as he has been named, is a gorgeous adult male that is almost entirely red-brown with a shiny orange-red gorget. The other four rufous are all females.
Two spent their time at feeders in Pinehurst: an immature at the Harper’s/Schultz’s in Pinewild and an adult at the Konold’s adjacent to Lake Pinehurst. There was another young female in Southern Pines at the Irvin’s. The fifth rufous was an immature female that wandered amongst feeders on the southwestern shore of Spring Valley Lake in Susan Campbell’s neighborhood in Whispering Pines.
The Rufous Hummingbird is a western species of hummingbird. It breeds from northern California and central Idaho up into southwestern Alberta and British Columbia and into southeastern Alaska.
Although the bulk of the population winters in Mexico, a large number of them are reported using flowers and feeders in the southeastern United States between October and March. Contrary to what was first believed, they, like their ancestors, migrate to the region every year.
Compared to the ruby-throated hummingbird that is the only breeding species of hummingbird east of the Mississippi, they are hardy birds. They can handle below freezing temperatures with ease, carrying on their search for insects and nectar despite wind, ice and/or snow.
During the nighttime hours, these birds find a protected spot and utilize torpor that is a short-term type of hibernation. Respiration and heartbeat are significantly slowed to conserve energy.
Feeders at this time of year are certainly a help to these birds, but there is ample evidence that they can survive without any human assistance. Not only are there winter blooming plants in the Southeastern region, but there are also sapsucker wells at which the hummingbirds are known to feed.
These holes are rows of holes in the bark of soft hardwood trees. They are created by yellow-bellied sapsuckers. This species of woodpecker feeds on insects trapped in the sticky liquid in addition to the tree sap itself. Rufous hummingbirds often take advantage of the sap wells as an easy sweet meal.
Adult male rufous hummingbirds are unmistakable. But the appearance of immature and female rufous is not as distinctive. These individuals look rather similar to ruby-throateds. They have green backs, heads and wings, white bellies, short black legs and a long straight black bill.
However, they have rufous underneath and at the base of their tail feathers, as well as along their flanks. This is noticeable when the bird is in flight. Also, adult females as well as young males and females have some flecking in their throats that may be an iridescent orange or green or may be a dull rusty color.
Nonetheless, identification of these birds is very tricky. That is why capture and banding of them is so important at this time of year. Campbell spends a lot of time investigating these tiny birds throughout North Carolina. She is an affiliate with the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences as well as the Hummer Bird Study Group in Clay, Ala.. Simply documenting and identifying as many of these winter marvels as possible is a large part of her job.
Certain species require in-hand measurements to be certain of their identity. Individual feather shape or size distinguishes one species from another in a few cases. Campbell bands as many of the reported hummingbirds as she can. She places a tiny numbered aluminum band on each one of the birds she catches to uniquely identify it should it be recaptured here or elsewhere. The data Campbell collects provides valuable data on winter hummingbird ecology, distribution, movements and survival.
Campbell uses the same method to catch wintering hummingbirds as she does to catch summertime ruby-throated hummingbirds: a pull-string wire cage trap. It is set up around the feeder that the bird is accustomed to feeding from, with the door held open.
The door is then dropped when the hummingbird enters and perches at the feeder. In a matter of minutes, the bird is banded, measured, weighed, photographed and released. This process is not harmful, nor does it scare the bird away from the feeder. Banding is simply the only way to identify individual hummingbirds and assess their survival and condition over time. One of the rufous that Campbell banded in two years ago as a juvenile in western North Carolina was recaptured last November at a feeder in Michigan.
Winter hummingbirds are reported to Campbell from all over the state. However there are more reports closer to the coast, where it is wetter and the weather is moderated by the ocean. This climate can support the most hummingbirds, given the abundance of insects and thick evergreen vegetation throughout the cooler months. The weather there is mild enough to support a small population of ruby-throateds, something we have realized only over the past 10 years.
Although most of the winter reports are of hummingbirds that appear to be rufous, occasionally other western species are discovered. Calliope, black-chinned, broad-tailed, Anna’s, broad-billed, reen biolet-ear and blue-throated have all been documented in our state.
The most amazing winter hummingbird was a tropical green-breasted mango that showed up at a feeder just east of Charlotte in November of 2000.
If you are interested in attracting a wintering hummingbird, hang a feeder close to a window where it is easily visible. It is wise to hang it close to the house so that it will be more protected from the weather. Sugar water in 1:4 (the correct sugar-to-water ratio) concentration will not freeze until the air temperature drops below 27 degrees.
On cold nights, it is simply best to bring the feeder inside. Hummingbirds feed only during the daylight hours. And although the nectar in the feeder will stay fresher longer than it does in summer, it is important to clean and refill the feeder every week to 10 days over the next few months.
It is possible for a hummingbird to find a feeder any time from now through February. The closer a feeder is to water of some kind (lake, creek, farm pond or even a water hazard), the better the chance of success. An interesting example of a “late arrival” was an adult female rufous that spent the latter part of the winter of 2001-2 near Lake Pinehurst. She first appeared during an early January snowstorm.
More amazingly, Campbell caught her and, by the band that was already on her leg, found out that she had been wandering the Southeast since her first winter in 1999, which she spent in central Louisiana.
Anyone who has a hummingbird coming to a feeder between Nov. 1 and March 15 should contact Campbell. She can be reached in Whispering Pines at 949-3207 or by e-mail at CAVES@utinet,net. To learn more about hummingbird, check out the new North Carolina hummingbird Web site at: www.naturalsciences.org/nchummers.
