BIRD OF THE MONTH:
  

Rufous Hummingbird
by John Crowley   ©John Crowley

Broad-tailed Hummingbird
by Jack Binch   ©Jack Binch

Calliope Hummingbird
by Paul Higgins   ©Paul Higgins

Black-chinned Hummingbird
by Paul Higgins   ©Paul Higgins

       Homeland Hummingbirds

                by Dennis Shirley
  

     Covid-19 has turned everything upside down for birders, including not only international travel but travel among our states and even our counties here in Utah.  For those of us who have taken the Covid-19 pandemic seriously, we have spent an inordinate amount of time at home and in our yards.  My yard has never looked so organized and clean.  Because of our “house arrest” because of Covid, much of my birding has been in my yard.  I have entered several dozen yard bird lists in e-bird for the year and have a pretty good idea of the birds that frequent my yard.  In 2020 this included 65 species.  Of course one of the common birds seen almost every day from spring to fall is hummingbirds, and I have up to nine feeders going at one time. 
     One evening in late July, as I was sitting out on my back deck watching my feeders, a neighbor came over and joined me.  He has developed an interest in birding and is amazed at the diversity of birds you can get even in your own yard. The rufous hummingbirds had just arrived and, like they do every year, stirred up the normal feeding patterns of the resident broad-tailed and black-chinned hummers.
     Birders and non-birders have always been fascinated with hummingbirds.  Can you imagine living in Europe or Asia and never witnessing the flight of a hummingbird and then, like my birding friends in Japan, coming on a trip to America and seeing hummingbirds for the first time.  They were overwhelmed by these amazing jewel-like creatures being able to fly in all directions, including backwards.
     My neighbor started asking me questions about birds, and especially hummingbirds.   First off, he wanted to know about the migration movements of the hummers found in our yard.  That question led to more questions concerning relative numbers of each species and if I knew when they first arrived in the spring and how late they stayed in the fall.  He also wanted to know if they fed at the feeders at night, which was an interesting question.  These questions perked my interest in wanting to know more about the daily and annual activities of my hummers.  I began to wonder about what time the hummers began feeding in the morning and if and when they stopped at night, the effects of weather and temperature on feeding, and if there is a difference in individual species timetables.  I also wondered if there was a preference for one type of feeder over another since I had three different types of feeders among my nine feeders.  Other questions included:  preference for clear sugar water or red; is the presence of wasps or bees a hindrance to feeding hummers ; and does the presence of cover (shrub or tree) make a difference in numbers of hummers using that feeder.  As you can see, when you start studying something and have a question or two, the more you think about it, the more questions arise.  Such was the case with my hummers.  So beginning in late July, I started consciously working on the above questions.  I actually made a field form to record my observations and had such things as official sunrise and sunset, the beginning time when the first hummer was recorded in the morning and last hummers in the evening, the temperature, the weather, and the numbers and kinds of hummers.  It required me to get up well before sunrise and also to be at my feeders in the evening for the last hour or so of the day. 
     Here are some of the things I found out: 

When did the first hummers arrive in the spring and leave in the fall?  
        

     April 23 was my first observation of a hummer at the feeders in my yard.  It was a broad-tailed male. 
     My first black-chinned arrived just three days later on April 26.
     For comparison, in 2019 the first broad-tailed was on April 21 and the black-chinned on April 25.   Going back and checking earlier years, my FOY records all fall in the last half of April. 
     My annual FOY hummingbird yard observations are always a few days later than the first records for Utah County. This may be due to my yard location on the higher oak/maple bench areas instead of lower down in the valley.
     The rufous hummingbird is markedly different.  It arrived in 2020 on July 18, which was a little later than usual, with most of my previous annual records being from the 4^th to the 15^th of July.  The first record is always a male, which is normal.  The females and young come later. 
     I did have a calliope hummingbird show up on August 21 and stay about a week until August 29. 
     In the fall, the last hummer observed was on September 30 and was a broad-tailed.  The last black-chinned was on September 27, and the last rufous was on September 21.  So in 2020, no hummers were observed in our yard after the 1st of October.   

What was the largest number of hummers at the feeders at one time?

     Trying to estimate the number of hummers using the feeders during one day is difficult, especially with the presence of the rufous hummingbirds, when there is always pandemonium, with hummers racing between the feeders trying to get a sip of nectar.  On the morning of August 28, I had 17 hummers at the feeders at one time, which was my high count.  But, between mid-August and the first of September, I often had 10 to 15 at the feeders both during the morning counting period and the evening. So between these dates was when the most hummers were in my yard. 
     The most activity at the feeders was during the early morning and early evening periods.  On most days, there was very little activity during the hottest part of the day. 

Do hummingbirds feed at night? If not, when does feeding begin in the morning and end at night? 

     This question required more time to answer than any of the others.  Of course, I didn’t spend all night watching my feeders, but I did spend darkness in the morning and in the evening watching them.  Not surprisingly, I never saw a hummer at the feeders after dark.  I spent 34 mornings and 27 evenings in August and September from before daylight in the morning and until dark in the evening recording the use at the feeders.  I would normally spend an hour or two during each observation period. 
     In the morning, 23 minutes before official sunrise was the average time hummers arrived at the feeders. Beginning times in the morning ranged from between 29 to 17 minutes before sunrise.  In the evening, hummers averaged 13 minutes after sunset as the last time they fed and ranged from 17 to 8 minutes after sunset.   Twilight is considered to be one half hour before official sunrise in the morning and one half hour after official sunset in the evening. So my hummers fed during twilight hours in the morning (slightly earlier) and during twilight hours in the evening.  One of the observations I also did was keep track of other bird species in the yard during the times I was watching hummingbirds.  Without exception, hummers were the first birds to actively feed in the morning and the last birds to feed in the evening.  Other birds must go to bed earlier than hummers. 

Other Questions

Most of the other questions I had, I could only superficially answer.  For the two months that I obediently watched the feeders, daily temperatures during observation times  ranged from about mid-40’s to mid-60’s in the morning and 60’s and 70’s in the evening.  Temperature seemed to have little effect on the numbers of hummers using the feeders. 

 Like temperature, weather seemed to have only minor effect.  However, during the observation months, no major weather changes occurred. 

 There were no noticeable differences in the use of the three types of feeders, and it seemed to not matter whether the sugar water was colored red or left clear. 

When wasps and bees were present in large numbers, hummers tended to use the other feeders and were often observed being aggressively chased away by wasps and bees. 

The presence of tree branches or other kinds of cover where the feeders were hanging did not seem to influence the use of the feeders by hummers.  I had four feeders hanging from our deck and a post right out in the open where no cover was close, and these feeders were used just as much as the ones hanging from our fruit trees, oak brush, and aspen. 

We’ve answered all of the questions, some more thoroughly than others.  It ended up being a good learning experience and a lot of fun.  It goes to show you, that even when our normal world is turned upside down, many of the world’s creatures still have a normal daily routine.  

November has been a month for rare birds in Utah County!
  

Snow Bunting

On November 4th Quin Diaz and Kendall Watkins found a Black Scoter on Sandy Beach at Utah Lake! Kendall texted me and we headed right over. Many birders were able to see this beautiful drake! 

Black Scoter

The Vermillion Flycatchers that Tammy Northrup found were still being seen on November 9th.

Vermillion Flycatcher

Vermillion Flycatcher
  

Vermillion Flycatcher

White-fronted Goose

Cackling Goose

Pacific Loon

While finding the turkeys for the Turkey Trot up Payson Canyon Jessie and I saw two of the LEWIS'S WOODPECKERS. Lewis's Woodpeckers have also been seen on the Mapleton Bike Trail and at the Woodland Hills Hangout.
 

Lewis's Woodpecker

Field Trip Reports      (There are Individual Field Trip Reports on our Facebook Page)
  

  Lewis's Woodpecker
 

TELL US WHERE YOU SAW

YOUR TURKEY'S!

    Southern Utah -  Hwy 20 & State Parks

             by Suzi Holt
 

       Challenge # 26
         Hwy 20  Continued
                   
     

Bald Eagle

Golden Eagle
 

Northern Harrier
 

Western Grebes

Common Merganser

Bufflehead

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Say's Phoebe

Rock Wren
 

Loggerhead Shrike

On Thursday evening Amanda, Izzy and Tatum came down. Friday morning we went to Snow Canyon. We needed 5 more species. We got out and within ten minutes had a SAY'S PHOEBE, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER and a BEWICK'S WREN. We spent another hour and couldn't get the last two and needed to head back to Bruce and the girls. Snow Canyon remains unfinished.

Hooded Merganser

Rock Wren

Downy Woodpecker
 

     If you have had any interesting field trips on your own this month,
feel free to write a report for the newsletter!

(Send it to: ucbirders@utahbirds.org)