By now, nearly all the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus
colubris) that will migrate from the U.S. and Canada have departed
North America. They are either on the way to non-breeding grounds in
Mexico and Central America or have already arrived in the Neotropics.
I would be very interested in knowing this year's autumn arrival dates
for RTHU if you are in Mexico or any of the seven countries of Central
America. I'm also interested in knowing the sex of each RTHU if you
can determine it. (Adult males have full red gorgets. Some immature
males at this time of year have a few red feathers on their throats.
RTHU with white throats could be adult females, immature females, or
immature males and should be called "unknown sex.")
You can e-mail this information to me, but it would be specially
helpful if you could report it through my Operation RubyThroat on-line
protocols at EarthTrek at
http://goearthtrek.com . You will need to
join EarthTrek to report data, but there is no cost to you.
Please note that you may report early arrival dates from previous
years if you have those data in your files.
Next spring you can also report the last dates that you observe RTHU
in the Neotropics.
The first autumn arrival date reported for 2009 was an adult male on 8
October in Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica--not far from where I have
been conducting research on RTHU in January and February.
Thank you in advance for your help,
BILL
=========
RESEARCH PROGRAM
c/o BILL HILTON JR. Executive Director
Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History
1432 DeVinney Road, York, South Carolina 29745 USA
(803) 684-5852
Please visit our web sites (courtesy of Comporium.net):
Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History at
http://www.hiltonpond.org"Operation RubyThroat: The Hummingbird Project" at
http://www.rubythroat.org==================
subscription options and posting rules can be found at the BirdBand web site:
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/6549/birdband.htm
