I'm finally officially opening my website at:http://www.floridahummingbirds.net/ . I'm only using three pages of that site for now, a Home Page with an introduction, a Photos page with some nice photos, and a Species page with photos of all of the species that have been reported in Florida or those who have been to neighboring states and just may show up here one day (I'm still awaiting approval to use a few photos). I have plans for a couple of other pages in the future.

I've also created a forum athttp://floridahummingbirds.proboards.com/ . I started out with a Network54 page but switched to this one because it allows for sorting of the posts in way that will be beneficial to anyone looking for specific data from the sight reports. It also includes a search function with the free version.

My original goal was to create this page to collect data on wintering birds but I've shifted to really wanting to know more obout our breeding birds as well. Even one time reports from migration may help someone. So, please visit my forum to post reports of all hummingbird sightings in Florida, especially breeding birds and winter residents.

I'm not requiring registration to post at this point as I'm hoping to make things as easy as possible for the reporters. The success of this site lies totally on them. I can create the perfect site but I'm looking to collect data from parts other than my yard. I would have said that I could collect that on two hands, but after this past winter, I'd have to include my toes as well.

Please help me out if you're in Florida. I will add posts for those who can't but it will look best with posts from many, verses many posts from one.

Thanks to all who have helped in the creation of this site and to those who will make this site.



Steve Backes
Valrico, FL (east of Tampa)
http://mysite.verizon.net/resu64md/yardhummers/
http://floridahummingbirds.net/
http://floridahummingbirds.proboards.com/

Hi Steve,
I'm in Jacksonville. I've taken a quick look at your links. Very impressive. I wish I had more time to devote to my birds but real life requires other commitments. That's why I am infrequent on the forum. But I'm happy to share sightings with you. I had a couple of hummers a month ago, a mature male and a female, ruby throats. They stayed at least a week. It was funny. The male would only drink from the feeder and the female would have none of it (or maybe she couldn't get too close). They took off, as I said, after a week or so. I've been waiting ever since for others but no luck, yet. I'm setting quite a table for them when they do show, salvias, cannas, honeysuckle, shrimp plant, to name a few. So I'll keep you posted. Suzanne

Steve,

I've got at least one male RT, saw him today. He was going at the feeder and the salvia B&B. I hope he stays longer than the last visitors. I am so happy to have at least one guest. How are you doing with your birds? We've had so much rain here. It's been almost like a hurricane without the wind. Suzanne

Steve,

Are there any sorts of range maps for Florida hummingbirds? I know Rubythroats next in the north and may winter in the south - but where is the actual line in Florida or does their wintering / summering overlap in central Florida?

It seems funny there are no year-round hummingbirds in Florida, like the Anna's in California. Or you'd think one species might be adapting now, to all the exotic vegetation and would stick around all year. I guess though, Florida has sort of an usual climate - despite all the normal warmth, you have the danger of frost in winter, all the way down to the top of the Keys - which could spell disaster for wintering hummingbirds.

Wilmington, Delaware
USDA zone 7a
Heat zone 6
Sunset zone 32

Ron,

I know what you mean about overwinter RTH in Florida and frost, but why don't they just winter in Mexico and than travel to floria or the southern tates for nesting. Like you pointed out, their vegetation is tropical and have alot more to offer the hummers than us northerners usually do. Is it just to hot and humid for nesting in the south?

Pam NJ 6B

Ron,

A map showing winter and summer ranges would be a map showing year-round hummers across most of the state. The catch is that in any given area, the wintering birds will not be the same as the summering ones. To really be informative, the map would need to show relative frequency. It's believed that Tampa is a dividing line between wintering and summering hummingbirds but there are exceptions on both sides and they are becoming more numerous every year. And, there are big gaps within those ranges without any reports. I'm assuming this is not due to a lack of birds but rather a lack of people reporting.

It's possible that in the past, there had always been periods with freezes that would have eliminated the hummingbirds food sources to the point of severely reducing the wintering population. This may have been enough to prevent any species from "adapting" to Florida's winters. This could be northern birds migrating shorter distances and stopping in Florida or resident populations in the state. I'm not sure if a migratory bird can stop migrating. If either of these scenarios is possible, I'm sure that they will be enhanced as we intentionally provide plants and feeders for them as this could decrease the effects of freezes.

I'm hoping through my website to be able to spread the word to more potential reporters, thus collecting more data points which will provide a better picture of where and how many hummers there are in the state at any given time.

I'm also hoping to get a better picture of the breeding population and identify some key sites where summer banding may be successful. Successful breeding range banding may yield additional knowledge on the movement of Ruby-throateds in the state. It's been suggested that possibly a number of our breeding birds may be short-distance migrants (North Florida to South Florida). We can't really make definite statements regarding summering vs. wintering birds without being able to identify individual birds. We band wintering birds in areas, for the most part, that don't have breeding birds. It will take summer banding and/or very good observers who can see bands on the legs of birds to be able to begin to make judgments on whether or not some of our birds remain the state during the winter.

Steve Backes
Valrico, FL (east of Tampa)
http://mysite.verizon.net/resu64md/yardhummers/
http://floridahummingbirds.net/
http://floridahummingbirds.proboards.com/

Steve, you are taking on a huge challenge, but one that will yield worthwhile results in the long run. These birds give up their secrets one feather at a time. Persistence is the clue.

I have wondered about the summer Ruby-throateds and the winter Ruby-throateds in Florida, just as I wonder about the seasonality of our summer and winter Ruby-throateds in Louisiana. If these answers were easy to find, someone else would have already found them. Good luck and best wishes!

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