4th Annual Hummingbird
Festival
Georgia Hummers will be having
the Hummingbird Festival earlier this year on May 31st and June 1st to see how
it goes and to try to avoid the intense 103F heat from last year. For
more information check out the Scheduled Events
for directions Exhibitor Applications
and more details. Should be a great time for the whole family!
Winter Hummer Season Winding
Down
Georgia kicked off the winter
hummingbird season early this year with a nice adult male Rufous Hummingbird
that showed up near Dawsonville in August. Then it took off with the
appearance of a young male Green-breasted Mango in Dublin, GA. This very
rare hummer to the US has only been recorded three times outside of
Texas. Keep your feeders clean and ready, you might get a visit from one
of these winter hummers as they head back to their nesting areas.. If
you should get one let us know by Reporting
Your Hummers! We are interested in knowing about any hummingbird sighting
after November 1st until March 1st. The first arriving Ruby-throats
should be seen in the southern most part of the state as early as the last
couple days in February.
Georgia Has Hummingbirds Year
Round
Georgia is a great place to watch
hummingbirds. Like the rest of the Southeast we have hummingbirds all year
long. While we only have one specie that breeds here, we have had eleven other species that have been recorded in Georgia.
Our resident breeder the Ruby-throated Hummingbird arrives in Georgia in early
March and usually is last seen around mid-October. Prior to the
Ruby-throats departure we start seeing the winter hummingbird species start to
arrive. Most winter hummers show up at feeders in mid-November through
December, but they could show up at anytime. These winter hummingbirds can
stay into late March or early April. This past winter we had a
record season for winter hummingbirds. For more details, check out the Winter
Hummingbird Sightings page, so you can see where and what species were
reported.
Below are two western species of
hummingbirds banded in the Atlanta area a couple winters ago. The first two photos are
of an adult male Calliope Hummingbird in Decatur, GA and the third picture is a
young male Black-chinned Hummingbird in Roswell, GA. The adult male
Calliope returned to the same yard again this winter! Click on the photo to
enlarge photo.
© Rusty Trump 2003
We recommend that you leave
at least one feeder out all year. You may get one of these western
species spend the winter in your yard. If you do, let us know
through Reporting
Your Hummers! We would like you to report any hummingbird that
you see after November 1st through March 1st.
Broad-tailed Hummingbird in
Georgia!
©2005 Rusty Trump
In the 2005-2006 season, we had three very rare visitors to Georgia, Broad-tailed Hummingbirds!
All three of the birds that visited GA were hatching year males. Hatching
year means the bird was hatched this calendar year, so the bird is approximately 4 months old.
The bird above was visiting a feeder in the Big Canoe subdivision near Jasper, GA.
We also had one near Suwanee and near Lake Rabun. Should these records
be accepted, it will be the 4th, 5th and 6th
ever record for Georgia. So keep watching those feeders, you may get one
of these little visitors from the western US. Click on the any of the
above images to enlarge.
White Hummingbirds in Georgia
Last summer was about average for white hummingbird sightings in Georgia.
In 2004, Russell Johnson
in Ellijay, GA had one show up in early September at his feeders and spent most
of the month there. He reported that it was usually the dominant bird.
Here are couple great photos that he took of this bird.
© Russell Johnson 2004
Five Hummingbird Nests in Three
Years!
I am not sure what the record is
for the most hummingbird nests on a porch, but Gene and Gaye Bottorff are off to
a good start. In 2002, they had a nest on one of their porch swings that
fledged two young. To see photos of that nest and young click
Gainesville 2002. Gene preserved the
nest by taking the swing down and putting it in storage over the winter. It
paid off. In 2003, a female hummer fixed up the nest and laid two eggs.
For some unknown reason, this bird abandoned this nest and then a female started
building a nest on his other porch swing! This nest fledged one young. This year, Gene noticed two females fighting over his porch light.
Shortly after, one female started building a nest and laid two eggs. Only
one of these eggs hatched and Gene assisted me in banding this bird at about 15
days old. Click on photos to enlarge.
© Rusty Trump 2004
After banding this bird, we went to
look at the old nests on both of his porch swings. The nest from 2002/2003
was starting to deteriorate, but the nest from last year was repaired and new
material was added to it. Gene got a ladder and we looked in the nest to
discover two eggs. Below is the sequence of photos of this nest.
Click on any photo to enlarge.
© Rusty Trump 2004
Above: In the first photo
are the eggs. Note how the female was not finished putting the lichens on
the nest. You can see the pink dryer lint that Gaye put out for the birds.
In the second photo, the female is brooding the young. In
the third photo, the first baby has hatched. You can still see the broken
shell and the unhatched egg next to it. In the fourth photo, the young are
1 & 2 days old and the fifth photo shows them at 2 & 3 days old.
© Rusty Trump 2004
Above: In the first photo,
the young are 3 & 4 days old. In the second photo, they are 4 & 5 days old.
In the third photo, they are 5 & 6 days old. In the fourth photo, they are 8
& 9 days old. The fifth photo shows the young the day we banded them
when they were 10 & 11 days old. Please note that it is unlawful to disturb
or remove nesting birds without a federal and state permit.
Below: The next three photos
shows the young at 10 & 11 days old. The second photo, shows the 11 day old
nestling.
The third photo shows the 10 day old nestling. This nestling must have
been fed right before banding as you can see its crop is quite full and bulging. Look closely on its leg and
you can see its new band!
© Rusty Trump 2004
Below: The first photo shows
the young at 12 & 13 days old. The second photo at 14 & 15 days old.
The third photo at 16 & 17 days old. The fourth photo is at 18 & 19 days
old. The fifth photo shows the two at 20 & 21 days old. Both birds
fledged the next day at 21 & 22 days old.
© Rusty Trump 2004
