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Black and White / Photo by Robert A. Karges (USFWS)
A characteristic bird of summer in the Mid-Atlanic region is the ruby-throated hummingbird. These unique birds are the smallest in eastern North America and have distinctively-shaped bodies. Though hard to spot, they are easy to identify because of their squat body shape and long, needle-like bills. Ruby-throated hummingbirds have iridescent green heads and backs with white breasts and bellies. Males have a red throat that females lack.
Ruby-throated hummingbird / Photo by USDA (via Wikimedia)
Hummingbird flight varies between fast and direct for forward flight and hovering at a near standstill for foraging. The flight of hummingbirds is so insect-like that many beginning birders and non-birders are surprised to learn that they are birds when they first see them. This insect-like flight is itself a useful field mark for identifying hummingbirds from other creatures. Look for something larger than an insect that flies like one.
Their flight is adapted for its foraging techniques, which center on two types of food. A hummingbird gains energy by drinking the nectar from flowers of various plants and trees. As a supplement, it may use a feeder if one is available. In either case, a hummer will hover and the food source and drink. Further nourishment is derived from catching small insects in midair. Sometimes one will see a hummingbird hover to glean insects and spiders from tree limbs.
Here is a video of some ruby-throated hummingbirds in action, mostly around a feeder. Both male and female are shown, with the frames slowed down to show wing action. It also includes a short clip of a sphinx moth, which may be confused with a hummingbird. The last shot of this video shows a characteristic feature of hummingbird plumage, namely its ability to change apparent color depending on the angle of the light. The head and throat feathers may at times appear black, only to flash red when hit directly by sunlight, as happens here. Here is a normal-speed video of feeding ruby-throated hummingbirds.
For most of the year, the ruby-throated hummingbird is the only hummingbird that is likely to be found in the Mid-Atlantic, or in eastern North America generally. It is our only breeding hummingbird. In the late fall and early winter, some western hummingbirds pass through this area and may even spend the winter if food is available. The most likely to appear is the rufous hummingbird. Other western hummingbirds that have been recorded in D.C. and Maryland include .... A few years ago, black-chinned and rufous hummingbirds at the Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building caused quite a stir among DC birders. Most western hummingbirds that winter along the east coast are immatures that took too much of an easterly route on their flight south, so identification of winter hummingbirds can be tricky.
You can attract hummingbirds to your yard with appropriate plantings and hummingbird feeders. Many types of flowers will attract hummingbirds, including salvia, cardinal flower, foxglove, jewelweed, and trumpet creeper. Plantings to attract hummingbirds will draw many butterfly species as well. A longer list of flowers is here.
Commercial feeders are available online and in nature stores. Fill these with a solution of one part sugar to four parts water. Clean feeders and refresh the solution regularly to prevent the spread of disease. Leave the feeders up in November and December if you would like to try to attract a migrating rufous hummingbird or other western species. For recommendations on maintaining feeders, see Hummingbirds.net and Rubythroat.org. For more information on winter hummingbirds, see Trochilids.com.
A hummingbird at a feeder or other food source may act aggressively towards other hummingbirds. For an example, see this video of two hummingbirds fighting over a single feeder. If you turn up the volume you can hear their chattering. For such small animals they are very feisty.
The American Bird Conservancy is asking birders to petition the Environmental Protection Agency to remove the pesticide carbofuran from agricultural use. This pesticide is known to kill birds even in small quantities, and effective alternatives exist for most of its uses. To voice your support for the ban, do the following:
We ask you to email carbofuran@epa.gov, CCing gshire@abcbirds.org telling the EPA to ban carbofuran now because of its danger to birds, other wildlife, and people. Your email can be brief.... What is important is that you tell them in your own words that you do not want carbofuran to be used in the United States. Alternatives exist that are equally effective and not deadly to birds. There is no reason to keep carbofuran registered.See Birderblog.com for a fuller explanation of this issue.
Please send your email before 5pm Wednesday August 2, 2006!
Alternatively you can fax your comments to 202-564-0512.
Tags:Despite the agency’s insistence that pesticide regulations follow scientific guidelines, several agency scientists said industry determined how chemicals were regulated.
“It’s how the game is played,” said an E.P.A. specialist involved in the pesticide program who spoke on the condition of anonymity because, he said, critics within the agency often lose choice assignments.
“You go to a meeting, and word comes down that this is an important chemical, this is one we’ve got to save,” he said. “It’s all informal, of course. But it suggests that industry interests are governing the decisions of E.P.A. management. The pesticide program functions as a governmental cover for what is effectively a private industry licensing program.”
Another senior E.P.A. scientist who also spoke on condition of anonymity said the agency often ignored independent scientific studies that contradicted the industry-subsidized study that supported many regulations on pesticides.
She cited a North Carolina researcher who found that chlorpyrifos might have a more damaging effect on developing brains than other studies. “What we heard back from headquarters was, ‘No, he’s wrong,’ ” the scientist said.
“Chemicals like these can be harmful to children in ways we don’t understand yet,’’ the scientist said. “If there is disagreement, doesn’t that cry out for further research?”
Here is an interesting update on avian influenza research:
The same article reports that a vaccine is being testing for the H5N1 strain from Indonesia.Scientists failed in multiple attempts to make a more contagious form of the H5N1 bird flu, suggesting the virus may have to undergo massive change to cause a human pandemic.
After genes from human and bird influenzas were mixed to mimic a natural process that could lead to a pandemic, the virus remained hard to spread, said researchers led by Taronna Maines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The study was conducted on ferrets, which flu affects much as it does people.
Since we are in the midst of one of the worst nationwide heat waves in recent years, bloggers have been highlighting ways to help birds beat the heat. Many birds have delicately-tuned metabolisms so that extreme heat (or extreme cold) can be very stressful for them. Since birds do not sweat, they need to use other cooling mechanisms such as panting, holding the wings away from the body, resting in the shade, and bathing. Here are a few ways that humans can help the process.
