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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.