Posted by Devin Manky May 31, 2018
first hummingbird monitoring session of 2018
Today we held our first hummingbird monitoring and banding session at the Grouse Mountain Refuge for Endangered Wildlife. It was an amazing early season session with 22 birds caught, recorded and released! We had six recaptures with two birds from 2017, three birds from 2016 and one bird from 2015. Overall the birds showed signs of good health - great body condition, healthy feathers and signs of breeding and also fat storage.
Grouse Mountain is part of the Hummingbird Monitoring Network of North American and is partaking in a long-term study to determine if the populations of Rufous hummingbird are declining and what we can do to help them.
Stop by our Hummingbird Garden anytime to check out these little beautiful fiesty birds in action!
Did you know?
In Vancouver we commonly see two types of hummingbirds - the Anna's hummingbird and the Rufous hummingbird. Both are also found here on Grouse Mountain. The Rufous hummingbird is the migratory species and is only present from March until August each year before heading back to Mexico. The Annas stay year round and feed off feeders and insect proteins during the cold winter months. The male Anna (pictured here) sports a complete shiny purple head and is easily identified.
Did you know?
This is the time of year for hummingbirds to be egg laying. The female Rufous hummingbird lays two eggs about 24 hours apart from one another. As we are studying these birds during the banding process we sometimes are fortunate enough to see egg development in process. If an egg is nearly ready to be layed then it will be able to be seen through the thin skin of the bird's abdomen.
