Categories
Hummingbirds

Female Rufous Hummingbird Sets Record

A female Rufous Hummingbird recently set a record for the longest distance between banding and recapture of any species of hummingbird. The bird traveled 3,500 miles from Tallahassee, Florida to Alaska’s Prince William Sound. The bird was banded in Florida by Fred Dietrich and then recaptured in Alaska by Kate McLaughlin.

This information was in published in a recent issue of National Wildlife Magazine, page 18, and sent to me by my brother-in-law, Paul. I cannot give the exact date of the issue because all I was sent was the clip about this out of the magazine. I just thought that you might find the above information to be interesting like I myself did.

Categories
Hummingbirds

Why Band Hummingbirds?

Have you ever wondered how researchers are able to gather needed information about hummingbirds? Well, if so then this post is just what you have been searching for. In this post you will discover what information is gathered through hummingbird banding efforts.

The use of a small metal band on the hummingbird’s leg helps tell researchers about the population sizes and geographical location of migrating hummingbirds. The various hummingbird species are identified, aged and the sex of the bird will be identified. The information collected will give researchers necessary information needed about the level breeding activity, where migration stops occur along the way and patterns of species occurrence and their abundance.

So as you can see from this post, hummingbird banding efforts provide researchers with much very valuable information. Without this information researchers would have a far more difficult time trying to study these birds and thus try and help ensure the hummingbird’s survival.