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Re: Hummers & spider webs
CECILLE . . .
Gorget feather production in young male Ruby-throated Hummingbirds is
highly variable. Some get no red feathers until they are on the
wintering grounds in Mexico and Central America. Others get one, or
two, or three, while a few get a dozen or more.
There may be a correlation between hatch date and how many red
feathers are produced while the birds are still here, but this has
not been confirmed.
By the time male ruby-throats return the following spring, virtually
all of them have a full red gorget, although I believe there are a
few examples of non-migrant second-year birds in Gulf Coast states
exhibiting arrested development.
There is some indication that some second-year males show an
irregular edge to the bottom of the gorget and retain a few non-red
feathers.
Please see the Web site for "Operation RubyThroat: The Hummingbird
Project," specifically at
http://www.rubythroat.org/RTHUExternalMain.html .
Best wishes,
BILL
=========
A spider has built a really nice web in the most direct path to my hummer
feeder. So far, all of the hummers have seen it and come in from the back
side. When the sun is on the web, I can't even see it. Smart little birds.
I saw a hummer with either the beginning of the red gorget or a small amount
of red coloring on its throat. Anyone know how the gorget starts? Slowly or
all at once?
--
Cecille Leopard
Harrisburg NC
c.leopard@att.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.