Does anyone know the approximate distance the hummers must fly to cross the Gulf of Mexico? It has always sounded like quite a feat, but I didn't fully appreciate the stamina & effort required until I flew across the Gulf during the daytime last Thursday. In a 757 at cruising altitude/speed, I believe we were over water for about an hour. Coming north from the Yucatan Peninsula, we made landfall around Corpus Christi, TX, enroute to Dallas. I'm guessing it would take longer if landfall were along the LA or MS coastlines. I was also impressed at the blind faith it would require to fly off over the water with no land in sight in any direction! Brings to mind the story of the Little Engine That Could.

Patrick
USDA Zone 8b
Heat Zone 3
Sunset Zone 5
SeaTac, WA...one cool place

Patrick, the distance from the northernmost tip of the Yucatán Peninsula to Grand Isle, Louisiana, is 520 miles and the overwater flight takes approximately 18 to 20 hours with the birds making about 30 miles per hour at maximum velocity. Storms over the Gulf of Mexico with northerly winds can increase the travel time and can take quite a toll on birds of many species.

Several times in April, I have stood on the beach at Grand Isle and I have seen hummers coming in a few feet above the waves in late morning or early afternoon. You are correct that it is quite a physical feat for our little birds. Of course, Ruby-throateds are the only species that make such a long overwater journey. All other North American species travel overland.

Immediately after the birds make landfall, they begin searching for food. Beach grasses offer absolutely no nutrition and there is very little nectar available on this barrier island. A few locals put out feeders and hummers are often seen checking out such poor nectar sources as Wax Ligustrum, which is in flower at that time.

In general, migrating birds will arrive with fat to spare so they are not in imminent danger of starvation, but they do want to begin eating soon. They seldom stay very long. These northbound migrants are in a hurry to get to their breeding grounds and to snag the best territories.

I have not seen or heard of any arriving Ruby-throateds yet. I checked out one last week but it turned out to be a male Black-chinned that had been banded on January 2008 in Mississippi. I banded 3 immature male Ruby-throateds on Saturday. These guys were clearly winterers and were clearly not ready for 'prime time'. The earliest I've seen a spring arrival is 24 February.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nancy L Newfield
Casa Colibrí
Metairie, Louisiana USA
USDA Zone 9

Oh how that makes my heart skip just to think of their big journey - it sure is an amazing feat.

Nancy I got to thinking how exciting it must be for you to be on the beach of Grand Isle seeing those hummers come in...WOW! And the date of 24 February is almost here...wonder if that will be the first date this year? Wish I could see that. Will you and Joan be there looking around that time?

Carol
Milford, CT
Zone 6

Carol, 24 February is Mardi Gras this year. It is a time for fun-loving folks to revel with abandon. It is also a good time to stay home. My neighborhood will be very quiet and unless someone calls to report a real good bird, I'll be working on a new program that has to be ready for early March. We won't see a lot of action on the coast until April anyway.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nancy L Newfield
Casa Colibrí
Metairie, Louisiana USA
USDA Zone 9

Patrick I sure am enjoying this thread.



Dianne
Southeast Alabama
Heat Zone 8
Sunset Zone 31

Me took, Dianne! Makes me wish I could stand on the beach on Grand Isle, holding up a hummingbird feeder. I'll bet those hummers would practically kiss you for providing a fill up.

Patrick
USDA Zone 8b
Heat Zone 3
Sunset Zone 5
SeaTac, WA...one cool place

Patrick I was just thinking the same thing. We could all line up along the beach with a feeder or two...Maybe even one of those feeder hats. I envision those little birds thinking 'just a little bit further and I can rest".

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

I ready to join the group

Dianne
Southeast Alabama
Heat Zone 8
Sunset Zone 31

Yeah - I like that idea too! Greeting the hummingbirds with loads and loads of nectar.

Nancy as far as Mardi Gras goes, I agree with you, I would be one to stay at home also. Although I do enjoy watching a bit on film. I was never one to stand on 34th st. at New Year's either even when I lived in Manhattan and was young....

Carol
Milford, CT
Zone 6

Y'all must be reading my mind. I e-mailed Tom a little while ago about that very thing. Nancy had suggested we go down to Grand Isle to see the hummers coming in a while back and I got to thinking I'd bet they'd appreciate a sip of nectar when they came ashore. Maybe we could put up a few shepherd's hooks and hang as many feeders as we could. I'm ready!

Joan Garvey - Metairie, LA Zone 9

There could be a very long wait for hummers to arrive and when they get there they might not be feeder junkies though some do go to the homes that put feeders out. However, when south winds prevail, most migrants [hummers and other kinds of birds] sail right over the immediate coast and will go as far as 100 miles inland. The only time one sees many birds on the coast in migration is when the birds have been bucking a head wind for quite a while.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nancy L Newfield
Casa Colibrí
Metairie, Louisiana USA
USDA Zone 9

I guess we'll have to watch the weather reports.

Joan Garvey - Metairie, LA Zone 9

Everyone will have to take a couple of pots of salvias along with their feeders to entice the little ones to stop and rest a bit.

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

That could happen Penny. Last year Nancy went to a meeting in South Louisiana during spring migration. I forget where exactly. But all of us on the forum were expressing our disappointment at the lack of hummingbirds and she said she rode along the coast and could see them coming in above the waves.

Joan Garvey - Metairie, LA Zone 9

Joan, last spring had slipped my mind. Indeed, while I was in Cameron Parish, Louisiana [extreme southwestern part of the state], late last April, there were hummers everywhere. Mostly, I saw the Ruby-throateds in marshes, where they probed absolutely everything that remotely resembled a flower. It was awesome to see so many while folks on this list were bemoaning a shortage. There was no shortage of hummers just coming in from the south on those 2 days last April.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nancy L Newfield
Casa Colibrí
Metairie, Louisiana USA
USDA Zone 9

Now Penny, after hearing the story of your new plant rack, I know you can be more inventive than just taking some potted plants to the beach! There are a number of old TV antennas sitting, unneeded, on rooftops...and no doubt some patio table umbrellas ready to have the fabric removed (Carrie in the Dallas area has one I helped strip the fabric from last Fall!). Let's take those, stick them in the sand & suspend hanging baskets and hummingbird feeders from them! And with Valentine's Day just over, we can probably pick up a lot of cheap buys on "everything red" to ornament our creations with. Keep an eye out in thrift stores for red table clothes or sheets...any red fabric or plastic to tack down on the sand for a big RED welcome for the hummers.

Patrick
USDA Zone 8b
Heat Zone 3
Sunset Zone 5
SeaTac, WA...one cool place

OK, how bout this?
All the forum members chip in and buy an oil rig that's outlived it's reserves. Then we take turns manning it with our feeders and flowers and "fuel 'em up" before they even hit land.
Just think, you Northerners.... with a little "assist" the RT's might hit your yards by March 1st!
Of course we'll have to check Joan's bags daily, otherwise they might all end up in Metairie!


Lizette, New Orleans, La.
USDA Zone 9

Hmmmmm....makes me wonder if I should stand on the shoreline here those late days in April - more likely the first days in May...who knows if one might be crossing Long Island Sound...crazy thinking I guess... specially if someone catches sight of me just holding up a feeder and a red salvia! But crazier thought have crossed my mind....!

Carol
Milford, CT
Zone 6

Hmmmmm... a little weekend getaway on Grand Isle in late April. Bring the red beach umbrellas and hummingbird feeders. Pack the flowering plants. Wear red clothes. Bring the bird cage. Ooops! Scratch that last item. Y'all weren't supposed to see that.

Joan Garvey - Metairie, LA Zone 9

Patrick
you are a lot more creative than I am. I really like the umbrella idea!

Carol,
I have heard that our rubies do cross Long Island sound during migration. I can't recall exactly where I heard or read that but it might not be a band idea.

OOOHH! I like the idea of chippinbg in on a rig and recycle it for our little flying jewwels...count me in!


Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

Drilling rigs and production platforms are not discarded after one use. They are moved from one place to another and will have many years of use. When they are deemed unusable, they must be thoroughly cleaned because a lot of toxic chemicals are involved with petroleum production. Then, they are cut up and sunk to the floor of the Gulf where they become artificial reefs - an excellent use of scrapped materials.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nancy L Newfield
Casa Colibrí
Metairie, Louisiana USA
USDA Zone 9

I got to thinking about the litle hummingbirds flying all those miles just to arrive with out food. DUH!!!!! Dianne. This is the way they have been migrating since the beginning of time and they have survived. Hopefully humans will not destroy the enviroment so they can continue to migrate to their breeding grounds.

I do like the idea of being on the coast and watch some of them arrive.


Dianne
Southeast Alabama
Heat Zone 8
Sunset Zone 31

All we need to do is lower the survival rate of migrants a few percentage points to possibly send a species into history's dustbin. It isn't exactly a head-on collision with extinction, but a fading out, a drifting away. Something tells me Ruby-throats won't be among those to fade away. And I also believe that our gardening efforts make a difference, in particular improving the survival rates of hatch year birds. The best thing that could ever happen is that some of our best plants would become part of the regular gardening tradition, like geraniums and impatiens, and be grown by regular people just because they are pretty and easy.

Ward, are you referring to true geraniums or pelargoniums? I've had a difficult time becoming enamored with true geraniums...they look too much like a very common weed that grows in my area.

Patrick
USDA Zone 8b
Heat Zone 3
Sunset Zone 5
SeaTac, WA...one cool place

Well said Ward!

Our efforts to grow and share these wonderful nectar plants could just be the next generation of most commonly used garden plants

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

You caught me out Patrick and I meant Pelargoniums. The dirty little secret is I went through a long relationship with true geraniums, still love them but haven't acquired a new one in many years. One of my favorites has leaves that smell almost exactly like a Christmas Tree. Woodland plants have always interested me, probably especially so because my yard is in dry more open county. I used to have this dream in which I'd walk out the back of the yard and up into the Pacific Coast Temperate Rain Forest, Vine Maples, Sitka Spruce, Winter Wrens by every fallen log, and the strange whistle of Varied Thrush.

I didnt read all the posts, but a great feat indeed. But Im wondering why their instincts dont tell them to go over land so they can pit stop for food along the way. But since they do go overland , you see theres no food for them along the beach , how far inland do they have to go before they find food and is that normally a feeder that people have waiting for them. Just curious about how all this works out , being so unknowledgeable about the habits.

Steve
Martinsville, In
Heat zone 6
Sunset zone 35

Ward, I know what you mean. I do love the damp forests of the PNW, loaded with evergreens, bushes, salal, huckleberries, ferns, mosses, etc. We need to get you down to Costa Rica, where you can experience the tropical version of all that! But don't think just in terms of low elevation, jungle type forests. Even high in the mountains the plants are incredible. There are orchids, ferns, bromeliads, gesneriads, philodendrons, etc, all over the trees, fallen logs & rocks. And while you're taking it all in, you get the added benefit of the amazing bird life...plus throw in a few monkeys & sloths. Want even more...how about a live volcano and some great hot springs?!

Patrick
USDA Zone 8b
Heat Zone 3
Sunset Zone 5
SeaTac, WA...one cool place

Patrick your post sure gave me a lot of green envy...literally! I can only relate it to the flora and fauna I aaw on Guam which was nothing like can be experienced down in South and Central America.

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

This is 'my' volcano. The Volcan Miaravalles.

On a very unusual afternoon.


On a normal sunny day.


Both taken from our back garden. Lots of Hot Springs around here too.

Patricia
That is simply breathtaking!

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

Unbelievable the danger that can be in such beauty.

Dianne
Southeast Alabama
Heat Zone 8
Sunset Zone 31

Thanks ladies! This is an extinct volcano...
But, I read 'somewhere '(I think on the Yahoo group site I went onto a couple of times) on hummingbird site, last Spring, that a man working 100 miles offshore, on a drilling rig had two Ruby Throats land on his 'rig' and one tried try to feed at the red steering wheel.One died but the other flew on after resting for a while. He said at his home they were waiting patiently with feeders full, but there was no sign of any. He said, that this year, he would make sure there were feeders on the rig, just in case they encountered returning hummers.

Great photos, Patricia. Were those taken in different seasons? Looks like the first one has lots of green between the trees, the second one looks like there is dried yellow grass.

I think the landscapes around volcanoes are often very spectacular and beautiful. The soil is very fertile from all those eruptions. Are your volcanoes the sort that blow their stacks every few thousand years, like Mt. St. Helens, or are they more like the "tame" ones in Hawaii that ooze lava? For your safety, I hope it's the latter!

It's a beautiful volcano, Patricia. What a great background for your finca.

Here's a pic of dufus posing in front of the Arenal Volcano while it was "gently" erupting. It would have been a spectacular sight if it had been dark. In the daylight, it wasn't very obvious that an eruption was happening.





Patrick
USDA Zone 8b
Heat Zone 3
Sunset Zone 5
SeaTac, WA...one cool place

This is my favorite shot of Arenal. Moments before, I got a glimpse of the summit as we were driving. By the time we could pull over & step out with cameras, the clouds were closing in again.





Patrick
USDA Zone 8b
Heat Zone 3
Sunset Zone 5
SeaTac, WA...one cool place

Patricia-- Very beautifull shots. And I also like the story of the drilling rig 100mi offshore. A good idea.

Steve
Martinsville, In
Heat zone 6
Sunset zone 35

Patricia, I don't know if it's the same person you referred to, but there was a fellow who posted regularly on "Labird" last year who worked on a rig. His sightings were a preview, so to speak, of the species that could be expected to arrive soon on the Gulf Coast. It was amazing how many birds took the opportunity to rest on the rig, that's what prompted my silly suggestion that we buy one. (Note to those who pooped on my plan...IT WAS A JOKE!)
I think there was even a bird count done from rigs in the Gulf, don't know how much useful information was gathered. Maybe Mrs "Reality Check" can fill us in.

Lizette, New Orleans, La.
USDA Zone 9

Lizette
I for one new that your comment about buying a rig was a joke. I know that there is someone on Humnet that works on a rig out in the gulf who hangs a feeder and reports in. I think it is great that these folks who also put their own lives in danger working on those rigs are now hanging feeders to help these little nondescript(to some) birds have a better chance of surviving their long and arduous journey across the gulf.

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

Kristin, the first photo was taken in early Sept, but the second must be earlier in the year during our dry season, but for some reason, there is no date associated with this photo.
Never heard of LaBird site!
The other side of the volcano receives a lot more rain, and all year it is much greener. Lots of dairy farm round there, too.

Lizette,

Actually, your idea wasn't entirely far-fetched. Back in the 1980's, my then-roommate, a senior studying architecture, was part of a competition sponsored to propose possible new uses for drilling rig platforms - the judges being a mix of oil/gas company engineers, architects, and other professionals who were looking for creative, "out of the box" ideas. One of the high-placing entries was a design for an offshore "retreat", accessible by boat or helicopter. As I recall, while there were windows and doors opening onto decks, and so forth, the plans called for retractable steel coverings that "sealed" the interior against tropical storms and hurricanes, simultaneously changing the "profile" of the platform to be more aerodynamic and able to deflect high-speed winds around it.

It would have been fabulously expensive, of course, but the comments at the time suggested it was otherwise a feasible design.

Kevin Morgan
Baton Rouge LA

Lizette, I, too, thoroughly enjoyed your whimsical suggestion about buying the oil rig. If only we had that kind of money! If they can clean a rig of toxic chemicals and sink it to the bottom of the sea to become a marine sanctuary, perhaps it's not such a silly idea to clean one up and turn it into a floating sanctuary for gulf migrants. I make no claims on feasibility, but it sure is a fun and imaginative idea to ponder! I'm sure that in the history of mankind there have been many impractical sounding ideas that have later turned out to be strokes of genius.

Keep those "silly" ideas coming!

Wow...Thanks for all the great info. The photos and the ideas on how to help our little RT's These little birds are amazing!! Gotta love them

Chris
Burlington County
NJ