[cobirds] Update on Adam Jack's Magnificent Hummingbird. Banded by Steve Bouricius.

I am forwarding the note posted on the West Slope Bird Network (WSBN) by Steve Bouricius, Colorado's master Hummingbird bander and friend of many of us from when he lived in Boulder County.

Joe Roller, Denver

First, here is a short note Steve sent to me.

"There are many useful things to be learned from banding rare birds. I suspect this bird is a northern breeder.  In Bailey and Niedrach's Birds of Colorado, 1965, they described the only CO record of Magnificent nesting, and their collecting of the hen, nest and eggs.  Not sure of the exact location but it was on South Boulder Creek, which is a mile from where we banded this Magnificent.  I think there are copses, or pioneer colonies of Mags scattered north and across the west, like in Oak Creek Canyon and Mogollon.  It's a subject I want to investigate more.  

Wouldn't it be interesting if Adam's bird returned to his feeders next spring?"

Then here is Steve's note about banding the hummer at Adam Jack's mountain home.

<<Hi Folks,

With sunshine and blue sky this morning Debbie and I banded an adult female Magnificent Hummingbird in the mountains of south Boulder County, CO.  The elevation is 7800 ft., in mixed Ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, and Western red cedar forest.  The bird has been using a feeder at the home of Adam Jack and his family for about two weeks.  

This was our first time handling a Magnificent and the 10th hummingbird species we've banded in Colorado.  Someone mentioned it is the 50th record of MAHU in Colorado.

The bird and the site offered a trapping challenge.  The bird was skittish as late hummingbirds are, and minor movements on the deck made it wary.  She wouldn't enter the trap during our 3 hour effort yesterday so we worked with Adam to more gradually move the feeder into the opening of the trap.  This morning we moved the feeder fully inside and placed a dummy hummer on the feeder.  With that the bird entered the trap to feed. 

Once in the hand the bird was remarkably calm, allowing me to use the hummingbird tarsus gauge to measure the leg before cutting and forming a custom sized band to fit.  We took measurements, made observations and confirmed ID as an adult female Magnificent.  She seems to be in good shape, weight 7.3 grams, and I was surprised to see her bulging with fat. 

With luck she'll be able to weather the coming storms.  Snow began falling two hours after we left, with snow predicted through the week and a low temp of 3F forecast for tomorrow night.  In years past, our wintering Costa's, Anna's and Broad-billed seemed to do OK even as night time temps dipped to -5F.  Insects do fly even on the coldest days.  As before, a red clip lamp was set by the feeder to keep the sugar solution thawed.  We're also doing this for the Costa's Hummingbird which was banded in Grand Junction last Thursday.  

After reality sets in, most people who have late staying/winter hummers wish the problem would fly away.  It's natural to be concerned about hummingbirds wintering in the north but in fact it happens all the time and hummers are much hardier than most folks believe.  The hummingbird experts I know across the continent who deal with wintering hummingbirds are convinced it is beneficial to leave feeders out so that late migrating birds (and winter residents) can build and maintain energy reserves.  I think it's best to provide what we can, hope for the best and let the bird decide when to move on.  If only we could know their fate in each and every instance.

 

Our sincere thanks to Adam Jack and his family for giving us the opportunity to learn more from this Magnificent bird.


Steve Bouricius
Palisade

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