Winter hummingbird banding near Raisin started in 1995 on our 2-acre lot. We initially trapped and mist-netted hummers in the vicinity of the house where we maintained a dozen feeders during winter. We caught about 1 dozen different hummers each winter and we were proud of this high density of wintering hummingbirds for this location.
Perky Pet donated to us numerous small feeders in 1999 for use in our field research and we expanded the number of feeders and the area we managed during the winter to 30 feeders on 4-acres. The 4-acres took in areas much larger than just our yard. It required acquisition and managment of an adjoining 2-acres of undeveloped land that was mostly brush and vines. We caught 29 hummers during the winter and this started our research on high density of feeders during winter.
In 2000, we added additional feeders during the winter for a total of 50. Well, we caught 62 hummers that winter.
We decided to increase the number of feeders and improve the style of feeders. We went with a different brand that we purchased to minimize bee problems we were having with the small feeders which tended to leak. We installed and maintained 70 feeders during 2001 and the number of hummers we were catching during the winter greatly increased. The response of the hummingbirds to the large number of feeders in areas of just deciduous brush and vines was phenomenal. It dramatically changed our perspective of what was suitable hummingbird habitat, and what you needed to provide to over winter hummingbirds.
We will be sharing with you some of this information in the coming months as we make time to post results from our research.
In the meantine, another winter season has started and we will be sampling The Land of Ortego-Zalk bird banding station bi-weekly with mist-nets for hummingbirds. We will post results after each session.
Data from previous years can be found below.
RAISIN WINTER HUMMINGBIRDS: 1 November thru 28 February
by Brent & Sue Ortego, Shawn Ashbaugh, Susan Beree, Charlie Brower, Brad Lirette, Robert & Kay Lookingbill, Sumita Prasad, Bron Rorex, Suzie Ross, Glenn Swartz, and Craig Zalk
| 95-96 | 96-97 | 97-98 | 98-99 | 99-00 | 00-01 | 01-02 | 02-03 | 03-04 | 04-05 | 05-06 | 06-07 | TOTAL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Broad-billed | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 (0) |
| Buff-bellied | 0 | 1 (1) | 3 | 4 (3) | 18 (7) | 31 (17) | 32 (16) | 51 (32) | 59 (30) | 59 (30) | 53 (30) | 56 (39) | 367 (235) |
| Ruby-throated | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 13 | 22 | 67 (0) |
| Black-chinned | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 7 (2) | 15 (5) | 5 (3) | 11 (2) | 22 (6) | 30 (7) | 11 (5) | 110 (30) |
| Anna’s | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 11 (0) |
| Rufous | 12 | 11 (2) | 3 (2) | 3 (2) | 4 (1) | 13 (4) | 36 (5) | 14 (2) | 29 (6) | 17 (6) | 39 (7) | 35 (14) | 216 (51) |
| Allen’s | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 (1) | 3 (0) | 4 (1) | 9 (2) | 4 (1) | 31 (5) |
| Broad-tailed | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 1 (0) | 1 (1) | 5 | 2 (1) | 26 (2) |
| Calliope | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 6 (1) | 1 (1) | 5 (1) | 2 (0) | 21 (3) |
| TOTAL | 17 | 15 (3) | 8 (2) | 17 (5) | 29 (8) | 62 (23) | 102 (26) | 96 (38) | 118 (39) | 110 (45) | 160 (47) | 132 (60) | 736 (238) |
| Average Birds | 14 (3) | 29 (8) | 62 (23) | 99 (32) | 130 (48) | ||||||||
| Feeders | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 30 | 50 | 70 | 70 | 75 | 75 | 75 | 75 | |
| Number in Parenthesis Indicates Birds Recaptured From Previous Periods (at least since previous winter) | |||||||||||||
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