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Re: Hummingbird Super-stimulus Experiment 2003



HARRY . . .

Thanks for your note. As always, I appreciate your perspective and input.

If you've ever been to Hawk Mountain Sanctuary during fall raptor migration, you're aware that apparent migrant hummingbirds buzz past North Lookout in daylight with great regularity--and at tree-top height, or below. In recent years, in fact, the counters have added tallies of diurnal migrant hummers to the substantial database of diurnal migrant hawks, falcons, and eagles.

Some hummingbirds do undoubtedly fly at night for at least part of their migration; since it takes about 20 hours or so for a hummer to cross the Gulf of Mexico, some of the flight occurs during darkness. Even so, there are many reports of hummers buzzing past boats in the Gulf only a few feet above the sea; one observer even reported hummers flying almost within the curl of large waves, thus allowing the waves to break the effect of any crosswinds.

I think the conventional wisdom on hummingbird migration is that it occurs in daylight when over land; such a strategy would allow hummers to discover and forage on spotty resources--early spring wildflowers, for example. I suspect if hummingbirds migrated at night we would have many reports of them being killed at towers or tall buildings, although it may be that their aerobatic skills allow them to avoid obstacles at night.

I also suspect that even if hummingbirds migrated at an altitude of 1,000 feet in daylight that they'd be able to see a big red "fake" feeder that is 4' in diameter.

The Hummingbird Super-stimulus Experiment 2003 is not a hoax. Instead, it is a fun way to get folks involved in observing hummingbird behavior. Since hummers are so small, it's hard to know exactly what their migration strategy is, but the super-stimulus might end up telling us something after all.


With best wishes,


BILL

==========

I just saw a personal comment from someone about this, and agree that
this is close to a hoax. I did check out the website to see if this is
some cruel hoax, and it seems to be legit!

As far as I know, hummingbirds migrate at night. If so, they presumably
fly a thousand or more feet above ground and would not see the fake
hummingbird feeder because of distance or darkness. The website mentions
that hummingbirds migrate by day at treetop height. That is news to me.

If anyone else has information about hummingbird migration (day versus
night, etc.), could you please enlighten us?

Harry LeGrand

BILL HILTON JR The Piedmont Naturalist wrote:

As a new Internet-based activity in 2003, "Operation RubyThroat: The Hummingbird Project" (see http://www.rubythroat.org ) is encouraging individuals and teacher/student groups in the U.S. and Canada to participate in "Hummingbird Super-stimulus Experiment 2003."

 The experiment is an attempt to use a giant "fake" hummingbird feeder
 to get the attention of spring migrant Ruby-throated Hummingbirds
 (Archilochus colubris) as they fly overhead. The idea for the
 experiment originally came from Gary Springer.

 Guidelines for how to participate in "Hummingbird Super-stimulus
 Experiment 2003" are at http://www.rubythroat.org/FakeFeeder2003.html
 . We think this will be a fun way to get folks of all ages to learn
 more about migration dates and general hummingbird behavior. Results
 will be submitted via the Internet and posted on the Operation
 RubyThroat Web site.

 Please feel free to forward this message to friends--especially K-12
 teachers--who may be interested in participating. For those in the
 southern U.S., it's about time to implement; New Englanders and
 Canadians have a little more time.

Happy Hummingbird Watching,

 BILL
 --

 BILL HILTON JR., Executive Director
 Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History
 1432 DeVinney Road, York, South Carolina 29745 USA
 hilton@hiltonpond.org, (803) 684-5852, eFax: (503) 218-0845
>
 The mission of Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History is "to
 conserve plants, animals, habitats, and other natural components of
 the Piedmont Region of the eastern United States through observation,
 scientific study, and education for students of all ages." Please
 visit our web sites (courtesy of Comporium.net) at
 http://www.hiltonpond.org and  http://www.rubythroat.org ("Operation
 RubyThroat: The Hummingbird Project").

 "Never trust a person too lazy to get up for sunrise or too busy to
 watch the sunset."                                      BHjr.

-- Harry LeGrand NC Natural Heritage Program DENR Office of Conservation and Community Affairs 1615 MSC Raleigh, NC 27699-1615 (919) 715-8687 (work) FAX: 919-715-3085 e-mail: harry.legrand@ncmail.net


--

BILL HILTON JR., Executive Director
Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History
1432 DeVinney Road, York, South Carolina 29745 USA
hilton@hiltonpond.org, (803) 684-5852, eFax: (503) 218-0845

The mission of Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History is "to conserve plants, animals, habitats, and other natural components of the Piedmont Region of the eastern United States through observation, scientific study, and education for students of all ages." Please visit our web sites (courtesy of Comporium.net) at http://www.hiltonpond.org and http://www.rubythroat.org ("Operation RubyThroat: The Hummingbird Project").

"Never trust a person too lazy to get up for sunrise or too busy to
watch the sunset."					BHjr.