Winter hummer banding update

["Susan Campbell" <ncaves@utinet.net>]

Hello All--

This is an update of my hummer banding work since 12/14 (my last posting)
in North Carolina.  I have caught and banded another 12 Rufous,
3 Black-chinned and 11 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds.  Of these, two
Ruby-throateds in Buxton were recaptures (one banded by me in November 2000
and the other banded originally by Bob Sargent and recaptured by me in
December 1999).  The Rufous continued to be scattered across the state but
the Ruby-throateds and Black-chinned were found at or very near the coast.

The Rufous were in Cary, Raleigh, Greenville, Chapel Hill, Oxford, Calabash,
Hampstead, Oriental and Durham. Ten (of the twelve) were immature birds and
most (nine of twelve) were females.  Weights of these birds varied from 3.30
g to 4.56 g with most of the fatter birds at feeders along the coast.  All
showed at least some degree of molt.

The Ruby-throateds were all at coastal feeders: six in Buxton, one in Sunset
Lakes,
and four in Morehead City.  They were a mix of males and females, juveniles
and adults.  I caught two adult males in both Buxton and Morehead City!
None had noticeable fat and about half  had little or no evident molt at the
time of capture.

The Black-chinneds were in Goldsboro (an immature female), Wilmington (an
immature male) and Sunset Lakes (an immature male).  The two coastal
individuals had neither much molt nor fat.  But the inland (Goldsboro)
hummer was rather heavy (3.80 g) and was molting virtually all over its
body.

In addition, at a number of  locations I have seen additional hummingbirds
that I did not have time to catch (mostly Ruby-throateds). There
are clearly a lot of hummers around in the Carolinas this winter.  I have
had over 100 hummingbirds reported to me thus far.  And the season is not
yet over.  Also I have
more trips planned.  I certainly plan to keep you posted on the progress of
my work.
Thanks so much for all the interest and help!

Regards,

Susan Campbell
Research Affiliate-NC State Museum of Natural Sciences