>>Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1999 09:09:04 -0400
>From: RONALDJ ROVANSEK <ROVANSEK.RONALDJ@EPAMAIL.EPA.GOV>
>Subject: ? about hummingbird migration

>I'd like to add a few comments to this thread. I often hear people
referring
>to hummingbird "migration pathways" as if hummingbirds congregate into
>defined corridors through which they migrate and are relatively absent in
>the areas between these corridors. I think the idea that birds migrate in
>defined corridors comes from the venerable idea of flyways for water
>fowl. While there are some bird species that follow more or less defined
>migration corridors, I do not think that the reason one of us attracts
many
>hummers while others attract few or none is usually due to the presence
>of migration corridors. In the far north (away from the gulf coast) I
think
>that the presence or absence of hummers is determined by the presence
>of natural woodlands, and the more woods the more hummers you'll find.
>Most suburban areas attract only a few hummers, and some people may
>not see any, although I bet at least one hummers cruises by every yard
>each year. This does not mean that the "flyways" go around suburbs,
>but rather that suburbs offer little hummer habitat and so are avoided. AS
>you go farther south, there are more hummers in the fall because there is
>more hummer breeding territory to the north of your location. An average
>suburb in Baton Rouge will have 10 or more hummers at any time at a
>feeder throughout the fall migration season, while a similar yard in NJ
>(Mike Gochfield's yard) has only a couple of birds all season. I think
this
>is due to the latitude, rather than the presence of a flyway through baton
>rouge. There is an obvious migration corridor along the western gulf
>coast, where in Texas there can be hundred of hummers at once, but
>elsewhere I think hummers concentrate in the woods but otherwise
>migrate over a broad front.
>Just my opinion,
>Ron Rovansek

================================================

>>Date: Wed, 25 Aug 1999 09:48:59 -0500
>From: "Nancy L. Newfield" <colibri@GS.VERIO.NET>
>Subject: Re: ? about hummingbird migration

>Barb,
>
>At 11:30 AM 8/22/99 EDT, Barb Nicolai wrote:
>
>>So, my question to you lucky humnetters who are inundated with the
jewels,
>>esp. Sarah in Missouri--where are your hummingbirds migrating from? My
folks
>>live in the woods in Wisconsin and they feed gallons of fluid in the summer
>>and during the last conversation with my mom on August 21 she said they
are still swarming there. She usually lets me know when she sees a lessening
in the hordes so that I can start watching to see if someone stumbles
through my yard on the way south. She says the numbers are still consistent, I
haven't seen any in my yard at all, but Sarah says that she has oodles of
migrants
>>and that you all in Louisiana should be getting them soon. Do some
>>rubythroats take different routes on their way south--and have different
time schedules as to when they leave?
>

>I didn't see any responses to you on the list, so I'll take a stab at it. It is difficult to pick out the migrants from the local nesters unless
there are no local nesters. In that case, all the hummers seen moving through
are migrants. I live in a close-in suburb of New Orleans, where any nesting
>habitat for hummers is long since gone and all habitat for birds is
>endangered by the demand for bigger houses.
>
>I see only a trickle of Ruby-throats migrating through in the spring -
>perhaps only 4-6 individuals over the course of the entire early March
>through early May season. Typically, I don't see any hummers from mid-May
>until sometime in July, though I did have a couple make brief appearances
>this year. I suspected that those birds had finished nesting and were
>wandering around before heading south, but keep in mind the operative word
>is "suspected". I don't know that for sure and I don't have any evidence
to support this theory.

>
>The first southbound migrants I see are in mid-July and they are few and
far between until late August. At this time, I see a few birds each day and
by watching banded, color-marked individuals, I know that some birds stay for
a few days, but most just keep moving.
>
>During the September and the first week of October, I have good numbers of
>Ruby-throats and I can hear squabbling all day and in all parts of the
yard. These guys are just moving on too.
>
>Those folks who have Ruby-throats regularly throughout the month of June
>surely live where there is a nesting population. Olga has a few at that
>time - both males and females - so they certainly nest around her house. >The huge hordes of hummers she reports are not during the nesting season.
>Sarah also hosts nesting birds and from the sound of her posts, I suspect
>she has a sizable population.
>
>The best showing at Olga's house is during August and September. These
>birds are almost exclusively migrants because I've banded and color-marked
>many birds over the course of the last several years and there are seldom
>any marked birds remaining after a few days.
>
>It is doubtful that any of Sarah's birds will pass through Olga's yard.
>Abita Springs, Louisiana, is considerably east of Ozark, Missouri. Any
bird leaving Sarah's house would have to fly in a southeasterly direction to
>reach Olga's. My guess is that birds leaving Sarah's will fly through
>western Missouri, western Arkansas, eastern Oklahoma, and eastern Texas.
I also think that Olga's birds probably come from northern Mississippi and >points to the north and east.
>
>There has been evidence to suggest that the majority of the population of
>Ruby-throats migrates along the Texas coast during southward migration.
>Thousands upon thousands of them pass through Rockport in September. And,
a bird banded and color-marked in South Carolina was spotted in Cameron,
>Louisiana, in August or September a few years ago. There is still a lot
>more to be learned however.
>
>Your location is probably not as conducive to having hummers as you would
>like - and there isn't much you can do about that except to keep planting
>more good nectar-producing plants and keep those feeders going.
>
>Don't worry about having all those red flowers and the bright pink
ribbons.
>My whole house is bright barn red and I am saving my pennies to get a red >vehicle so some of Olga's hummers will follow me home!
>
>NLN
>
>
>Nancy L. Newfield