I seem to be getting more than the usual amount of "Where did my
hummingbirds go?" email this year. However, I suspect it's just an
artifact of increasing Internet usage, not a real decline in hummer
numbers. For sure, some places will always have fewer birds at feeders
than the previous year...but other locations will invariably have more
(which folks rarely complain about). This is normal localized
fluctuation; it all averages out, and I know of no evidence that North
American hummingbird populations are in decline, with the exception of
Rufous Hummingbird.
Today's banding demonstration at a state park was a good example: in 4
hours we captured 43 hummers, about as many as we ever handle in this
monthly event. Birds were still swarming the feeders when we packed up
to leave, and we could easily have caught many more but for the time
taken interacting with over 100 visitors. Nearly every child got to
release a bird by hand--watching their faces is the really fun part!
A few birds were starting to fatten up for migration, but I think most
of the females are still tending nests. No young birds were seen yet.
The first bird in the trap today was a female I'd banded at the same
feeder in July 2004. She was already an adult then, so now she's at
least 5 years old.
--
Lanny Chambers
St. Louis, MO
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