West Texas Hummingbird Banding Report, 2014

While this blog is effectively dead (we're no longer in the region, sadly), snippets may still find their way to a post, like the 2014 Banding Report from Kelly Bryan's West Texas Hummingbird research project. 

500 Lucifer Hummingbirds

If the title didn't catch your eye, there's no telling what would! Happy belated 500th Lucifer Hummingbird (banded) to Kelly Bryan and WTARI - WestTexasAvianResearch.org - Carolyn Ohl does an excellent job of covering the May 26th event on her Christmas Mountains Oasis: Milestone Banding Day post.

Hummingbirds along the Rio

Yesterday, 4 February 2013, I accompanied trans-Pecos Hummingbird guru, Kelly Bryan of West Texas Avian Research, Inc. and his often-assistant and mutual friend Carolyn Ohl-Johnson down to the river (Rio Grande/Bravo) to enjoy good company and hummingbirds in the hand.

The main objective for the morning was to explore a little further into how much turnover of Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna) (ANHU) there is in south Brewster County.  Kelly has banded, captured, and re-captured an astonishing number of this species this winter and particularly into the new year.

The element far more intriguing is courtship displays of ANHU.  That is courtship displays of ANHU in the state of Texas.  An irregular wintering species in the trans-Pecos, this species is a year-round resident of California up the west coastal edge of the US, and also southern Arizona.  In California, as an example, they are already nesting.

In Texas, there are only three nesting records of ANHU; two in El Paso County and one in Jeff Davis County.

The highlight of the morning at this location was this guy. A new male on the scene:

Anna's Hummingbird, male, Second Year. 
not banded, so a new bird on the scene.

Second Year (SY) refers to the bird is now in its 2nd Calender Year of existence.

the same SY male bird.
Since the new calender year was only a month ago, this guy isn't exactly showing his full pinkish-red gorget (throat) feathers he will sport.

The genus Calypte is among other genera of "helmeted hummingbirds."

Those beautiful pink-red gorget feathers he will eventually completely molt into will also be seen covering the crown.

the crown simply means the top of the head.

Those adult crown feathers will be connected to the gorget by the same color pink-red feathers at the nape, "ears", and cheeks.

When he molts into his full adult-male plumage (at least regarding the feathers around the head), his entire head will be an iridescent pink-red.
"Helmeted."

The following two pics are of female ANHU:

Female Anna's Hummingbirds do attain iridescent pink-red gorget feathers.  However, they are restricted to a centralized spot at the center of the throat.

This is a picture of another female.  Her central gorget spot still has a ways to go.
In fact, this individual is a SY female bird.

Feathers are scales.  They are just modified scales.  Birds shed/drop old feather and those are replaced by new feathers.  That is a feather molt.

Primary or "flight" feathers are the outer feathers of the wing.  Though sometimes called "flight" feathers, they certainly are not the only ones responsible for the creation of lift.

Hummingbirds have 10 primaries.

Second Year ANHU molt all their primaries except for P9 and P10, the outer two.

Look at the outer two primary feathers.  In hummingbirds, these are P9 and P10.
They are a little more faded in color and worn than the others.  The color may not show in this photo due to light, but the wear is noticeable. The other eight primaries are new and pristine.

This is a wing of a SY (Second Year) Anna's Hummingbird.  All SY Anna's retain their outer two primary feathers, not molting them this go-around.

Anyways, the females at this particular site were recaptures.  The SY male was new and unbanded.

In fact, he chased a female off a feeder while at the same time we were urging him to work on his courtship display flight.  He did not.
He just returned to the feeder he won.  It happened to have a trap around it.

So, will there actually be another nesting record for Anna's Hummingbird in Texas?  Even an attempt?

I don't know.
But if you are down along the Rio Grande, it might be worth it to look up. (And brush up on any hummingbird identification first..)

January Hummingbird Summary (part 2)

Via Kelly Bryan, whose project can be followed at http://westtexashummingbirds.com/
Part 1 of his winter hummingbird report can be found here: http://www.bigbendnature.com/2013/01/west-texas-hummingbirds.html

Texbirders,
We completed our second round of banding sessions in the lower Big Bend area these past two days. This is an unprecedented January for hummingbirds in the region. If Anna's Hummingbirds continue to be present in these numbers there will surely be a few nesting records to be had in the next couple of months. Texas has only three, one from Jeff Davis County and two from El Paso County. Their California cousins are already on nests where birds are resident year-round. We do not know exactly what portion of the west coast Anna's population is migratory, but it is likely the northern portion.

Totals for the month of January: 5 species and 60 birds including 45 new birds and 15 returns/recaps.

- Black-chin - 1 new bird on 1/17 (SY M)
- Anna's - 44 birds including 37 new birds and 7 returns/recaps (2 from last year and 5 from Nov/Dec)
- Costa's - 1 new bird on 1/14 (AHY F, last seen on 1/19)
- Rufous - 11 birds including 4 new birds and 7 returns/recaps (all from Nov/Dec)
- Allen's - 3 birds including 2 new birds (1/14 and 1/28 from Lajitas) and 1 return/recap (originally banded 12/8 near Willow Mtn)

--
Kelly B Bryan
Fort Davis, Texas

West Texas Hummingbirds

Via Kelly Bryan, whose project can be followed at http://westtexashummingbirds.com/
Edit: the 2012 banding report is now up! http://westtexashummingbirds.com/information/2012-annual-report/

Texbirders,

I finished my second round of banding efforts in the Terlingua Ranch area today. For anyone headed to the Big Bend area, this is a remarkable winter for hummingbird abundance and diversity. A lot of folks are telling us there are hummingbirds at locations were no feeders are hanging. Anyone birding the area should expect to encounter some, especially along the river. Obviously, the most likely species is Anna's. I have five sampling sites in the area just west and northwest of Big Bend National Park that I band at on a regular rotational basis. Today I finished those sites. The totals for the week are:

- Black-chinned Hummingbird - 1 SY Male today (first January record for the region)

- Anna's Hummingbird - 19 new birds banded and 6 returns/recaps (4 from Nov and Dec, 1 from Dec 2011, 1 from Nov 2011)

- Costa's Hummingbird - 1 AHY (adult) Female on Monday as reported previously (there will be folks checking on it tomorrow)

- Rufous Hummingbird - 3 new birds banded and 7 returns/recaps (all from Nov and Dec)

- Allen's Hummingbird - 1 new bird banded in Lajitas on Monday and 1 return/recap today (banded in Dec)


Total = 39 birds, 25 new birds banded and 14 returns/recaps


--

Kelly B Bryan

Fort Davis, Texas


To see other blog posts related to Kelly's work, or banded birds in the region in general, check out the rest of the posts under the "banding" label/tag!

Sightings around the region

Since we're heading to the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival as of 4:30 am, we thought the site could use some distractions in our absence. A few reports have been trickling in from around the region, so here's a batch from Jeff Davis Co.

L.E. Woods Picnic area:
Williamson's Sapsucker
Red-naped Sapsucker

Davis Mts State Park:
Fox Sparrow

Posted with permission from Kelly Bryan -

Texbirders,

FYI, Marc and Maryann photographed four Evening Grosbeaks at their feeders in the Davis Mountains on October 28. They only stayed a couple of days. Also, a female visited a feeder here in Fort Davis for at least two days this past weekend. For those planning to visit west Texas in the next couple of months keep you eyes pealed. Hopefully, there are more coming down the pike. There appears to be a large influx of Red Crossbills and Western Scrub-Jays are pushing out of the mountains and foothills into the lower desert. May be a good winter overall out here. KBB

And from the Christmas Mountains Oasis in south Brewster Co, where the Varied Thrush continues, also via Kelly Bryan -

Once again the Christmas Mountains Oasis in south central Brewster County has produced an outstanding bird for Texas. If you have never been there then you do not know and cannot appreciate the amount of work it took over the past 20 years or so for Carolyn Ohl to produce the "habitat" there.

I made my weekly stop there this morning to sample her hummingbirds as part of my overall banding study here in west Texas. The first bird in the trap this morning was a male Costa's Hummingbird. He had completed his flight feather molt and was in the process of completing his body molt including his head, gorget and crown. Carolyn will provide an update on this bird on her website and/or on Texbirds later today including the status of the Varied Thrush there. She will have some pics posted to cmoasis.blogspot.com later today.

Save for one juvenile male that we likely banded last week because it was trap shy, there was a complete turnover of hummingbirds there today from last week. We caught four Anna's Hummingbirds including two new birds and two returns. One adult female was previously banded on 12/12/11 (our last Anna's banded last year) and the other, also a female, was banded as an adult on 11/13/09 at CMO. KBB

(The Costa's was at the feeders all afternoon at CMO after it was banded.)

Gage's Birds & Butterflies of the Big Bend - Event Highlights

Edit: links are in BOLD!

Alpine Avalanche story from June.

Edit: Houston Chronicle/San Antonio Express story


What folks are saying... snippets of the event, via Facebook
Check out the bird list and butterfly list - each encompasses the full weekend.

***

Thursday, July 19 - Sneek peek at Swarovski's new scope at the Gage Gardens, Meet & Greet

Friday, July 20 - morning - Hummingbird banding with Kelly Bryan

Friday, July 20 - afternoon - Vendor session, Gage Gardens Butterfly Walk, Kathy Adams Clark Photography Workshop, dinner


Saturday, July 21 - morning - Maravillas Ranch tour; birds, butterflies, javelina and dung beetles

Saturday, July 21 - afternoon - Kaufman lecture, banquet dinner

Saturday, July 21 - evening - Blacklighting for moths

Day Two - Morning

Friday, July 20 - Gage Gardens

The morning started with our local Master Bander, Kelly Bryan, waiting patiently for hummingbirds at the Gage Gardens. Designated feeders were set up inside traps and Black-chinned Hummingbirds were summarily fished out for banding.

An interesting note about hummingbird migration: it seems to go in cycles. Kelly has been tracking the occasional dips in fall migration for years - his website, West Texas Hummingbirds is a wealth of information! Unfortunately for us, however, this year is turning out to be a slow fall migration so we'll be checking his site to see what next year may bring!

Kelly uses nothing but the finest cuttings of hosiery to restrain hummingbirds for weight measurements: under the wing of Black-chinned Hummingbird we see banding pliers, a magnifying glass to look for grooves on the bill, the aforementioned foot of pantyhose, and calipers for taking additional measurements.

First round of celebrity spotting: Kenn Kaufman on the left! Patt, closest to Kelly, is a local celebrity - she has been birding, bugging, botanizing and geo-geeking (is that a real label?) in this region for quite a while!



















Patt, pre-hummingbird takeoff. Celebrity spotting, round two: Kim Kaufman on the left!

It's daylight.

I'm so accustomed to armchair moth-ing (the equivalent of armchair birding, I suppose) that actually being outside in the light of day to look at pollinators was a strange change of pace. I'd met up with Andy Bankert midday to take him to the Christmas Mountains Oasis after he hiked Pinnacles Trail in Big Bend National Park for Colima Warbler. Even in the noonday heat, CMO was definitely worthwhile! We were officially looking for Lucifer Hummingbird (check), Varied Bunting (check) and Elf Owl (nope). Unofficially, I was really hoping to see the resident Mojave rattlesnake as well.

Vertebrates aside, we had a slew of flying insects. Probably 90% were mosquitoes (long overdue - as was the rain!) but the rest were dragonflies and damselflies and butterflies and...

Uresiphita reversalis - Genista Broom Moth
Unknown crambid-type moth







Clockwise from the blurry dark moth in the upper left:

Tarache quadriplaga - either that or one of the Ponometias
Kricogonia lyside - Lyside Sulphur
Ponometia semiflava - Half Yellow (look straight across to the right of the butterfly, it's yellow and dark blue-gray)
Palpita quadristigmalis - Four-spotted Palpita
Helicoverpa zea - Corn Earworm Moth





































There were some other really impressive looking pollinators, but that's fodder for future posts! Definitely makes me wish I'd checked every beebrush plant on the property!

Back to birds for a moment - we had been emailed a note of caution from Carolyn before we headed to CMO... "Lucifers are here but not abundant. Kelly banded 10 yesterday." They may have been skittish, but they were certainly lovely!

Here's Andy's breakdown of the day, according to Facebook:
Long day! Left Marathon at 3 AM, made it to Boot Canyon by 6:15 for Flammulated Owl, found a Colima Warbler nest by 7:15, back down to the basin by 9:45 where I almost stepped on a rattlesnake! Thanks to Heidi Trudell for taking me to see Lucifer Hummingbirds and Varied Buntings afterwards! Looking for Black-tailed Godwit tomorrow.


We wish Andy the best of luck with The Godwit. We'll be living vicariously through him - he'll be after the godwit and we'll be on Marfa NPR's Talk at Ten to discuss the Gage's July birding festivities.

Banded Mexican Jay, Big Bend National Park

(Photo via Mark Flippo of Birding Big Bend)

"A Mexican Jay near the Pinnacles campsites in the Chisos: note the silver band on the bird's left leg. In 1996-97 a graduate student came to BBNP to conduct research on Mexican jays and banded a number of birds, including some hatch year birds. Either he never completed his work or he didn't publish so there is no record of study results but an indirect benefit was the bands provided a datapoint... those few jays still flying aorund in the Chisos with bands on their legs are at least 15 years old. This jay is definitely a viejo..."

Photo and caption originally posted at Birding Big Bend's facebook page, thanks to Kym Flippo!

(Crossposted at I found a banded bird)

Allen's Hummingbird continues here in Marathon

Allen's Hummingbird (Selasphorus sasin)

This bird was banded here at the house back on 8 December by Kelly Bryan.
That day there were two Selasphorus types. One was already banded, but on the left leg. Kelly bands all his hummingbird new-captures on the right leg. We really wanted that recap, because it wasn't local. Really, any recap is filled with goodness, but a bird not banded here...., oh well.

We got this kid. It is a hatch-year (HY) male Allen's. Late December and there is still this territorial sprite waiting for the sugar-water to thaw this morning. He'll also guard the drip and other portions of the back-40.

Well, in a week and a half from now we would have to celebrate his birthday. He'll have graduated to after-hatch-yr (AHY), we'll even know him to be a second-year Allen's. All that, if he sticks. Check the gorget, the sides are starting to show some shading..



Those who are interested in an Allen's Hummingbird for their life/year/state/county/town/block list are generally welcome to stop by. Just give us a shout or email to let us know you're coming. We can, in turn, let you know if we would've seen him that day.

Allen's Hummingbird - the Selasphorus Matrix

Allen's Hummingbird (Selasphorus sasin) vs. Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus)

Most Rufous Hummingbirds have atleast some green flecks on their backs at some point of growing up. Some lose them by the time of adulthood. Some keep or gain more into a "green-backed" Rufous Hummingbird status.

It's this green-backed Rufous Hummingbird that is near identical to the adult Allen's Hummingbird, a bird that always has a green back.

Where ranges overlap, it can be difficult or impossible to separate the two other than having the bird in-the-hand. As time marches on, there are those who are learned enough in their bird observing, field-work and/or region they live in that can tell the difference between the two without it in-hand. Others atleast have experienced leanings toward one species ID or another. The advent of high-shutter speed digital photography has helped, too.

There was an effort today to capture two green-backed Selasphorus species hummingbird.

We caught one. One person in the party is long-timed permitted to do this.

Allen's Hummingbird , Marathon, Brewster Co., TX. A location where migration routes do overlap.
Some diagnostics:

One way out of the hand to get a strong hunch is this:


Hatch-year (HY), birds hatched this calender year (have a mixed audience reading), Allen's Hummingbird male develop their full gorget earlier than do Rufous.

This HY male Allen's is well on his way.

By the way, HY hummingbirds have corrugations or wrinkles/grooves running alongside their bills. After-HY birds typically lack them completely or they are almost gone.



That's what Kelly is looking at in the above pic.

This HY bird (and us for that matter) is all the way into the month of December. It's lost some its older feathers, though has some left.

Check out the primary feathers of one of his wings:

It has new secondary feathers. It also has new primary feathers except for the outer-most 3 (P7-9). More brown in color and certainly more worn on the edges. He's growing up.

Also, his tail still has some old pin feathers amidst newer adult tailfeathers.


Moving from age-characteristics of humming birds back to species specific characteristics making this an Allen's Hummingbird, and not a green-backed Rufous Hummingbird...

These two species have 10 tail-feathers or retrices. There are five on the left and five on the right. The innermost are both labeled tailfeather number 1 (or R1). So from the innermost two tail-feathers, our R-1's, we count outward; R-2, R-3, R-4, R-5.

In the above photo, those two thickest feathers by his index finger are the R-1 tail-feathers.

R-2 feathers on a Rufous Hummingbird has a notch in it.

R-2 feathers on an Allen's does not.
No notch here.

All the tail-feathers in each sex and age-class are narrower in Allen's compared to Rufous.

This become more acutely apparent in R-5. The outermost tail feathers. They are narrower in Allen's Hummingbirds.


Again, no notch in R-2, and check out the narrower outermost tail-feathers. Somewhere we can dig up a photo of the tail of both species side-by-side. I'll edit that in, in the future, perhaps.


Anyways, as is standard procedure in avian fieldword various physical measures were taken.

This is wing chord length:

Chord length is a measurement taken when a bird's wing is bent at around a 90 degree angle (sort of as if it were at rest). The length from the "wrist" to the longest primary wing tip is taken.
Check out his new band on his right leg. Tiny.
I've worked with band sizes from albatross, sulids, shearwaters, noddies, terns, warblers, vireos, shrikes, and others. The band size for a hummingbird is amazing!

Measuring tail length:


Width of the outer tail feather:



After various other morphological data taken, this HY male Allen's Hummingbird with a healthy weight was released ... with a bad auto-focus..



Another far-West Texas Allen's Hummingbird. This is the latest calender date that Kelly has banded an Allen's. Kelly's been doing this for a long time.

**He later banded an Allen's Hummingbird this afternoon at a friend's place in Alpine.

Hummingbird banding in Marathon

...in November!

Today, Wednesday, we hosted bander Kelly Bryan (of West Texas Hummingbirds) who was assisted by Carolyn Ohl of the Christmas Mountains Oasis. At 9 AM the trap was set up and within 10 minutes, the female Anna's was in hand. Before the end of the hour, the latest documented Black-chinned Hummingbird (also female) was banded and on its way!

From Kelly's e-mail prior to the banding:

There are no records beyond Oct 29 for Black-chinned and Oct 31 for Ruby-throats; however I do have two winter records for Ruby-throat (Dec for one and Jan through April for the other). ... So far I have banded 58 Anna's this fall and the last BCHU was Oct 17 and the last RTHU was Oct 4.

For those unfamiliar with banding code:
BCHU = Black-chinned Hummingbird
RTHU = Ruby-throated Hummingbird

So it goes without saying that we're thrilled to be a part of Kelly's banding research. We're even more excited that we didn't lure him all the way out here and not have a decent record for him. November 10 and two species of hummers... not so bad, eh?



...captions and further explanations will be added after a supply run and a few loads of laundry and maybe another coat of paint. Our apologies!

Edit: this has also been posted over at ifoundabandedbird.blogspot.com

Edit 2: As of Nov. 13, both hummingbirds are still present!
Any folks care to guess at how long the Black-chinned will stick around, anyone?