Bill Uhrich: Rufous hummingbird still hanging around Hamburg feeder
Reading, PA - There's always a pleasant surprise in store when I answer the phone here at work.
A couple of weeks ago, Wayne Wagner of Hamburg called with a question: How long should I leave my hummingbird feeder up?
Hummingbird bander Scott Weidensaul holds an immature female rufous hummingbird he banded at the home of Wayne Wagner in Hamburg.
For the last decade, I've been urging backyard birders to keep their hummingbird feeders up through at least Thanksgiving in case a rufous hummingbird, those Western vagrants that have appeared in Berks annually during late fall, should show up.
I said he might want to bring it in at night so it doesn't freeze, and then he interrupted me: "Because there's this hummingbird that's still been coming around since all the other ones left in September."
That's pretty cool.
I immediately e-mailed Scott Weidensaul, the Schuylkill County naturalist and author who has been the area's rufous hummingbird banding expert, and he arranged with Wayne to capture and band the bird the next day.
Scott e-mailed: "Success! I was at the Wagners' about 10 a.m. today and caught the hummingbird almost immediately - an adult female rufous, now carrying band L04106. She also sat nicely on my palm for a last couple of frames before zipping off.
"The Wagners were not home, unfortunately, but I talked with Wayne to let him know. I also mentioned that she was extremely fat, which suggests to me that she's tanked up and ready to head south - birds only lay on fat loads like that when they're readying to migrate, so I'm not sure how much longer she'll be around.
" After all, this is a species that now summers as far north as central Alaska (they've shown up in Fairbanks and Denali NP in the past couple of years), and they can handle a lot of snow and cold without much problem. I banded one Jan. 14 last winter in Perry County, when overnight lows were in the single digits. That bird disappeared when the lows fell to minus-8, but whether it died or simply decided to head south, I can't say.
"One thing to mention, if you would, is that I do this work in cooperation with the Hummer/Bird Study Group in Alabama, which coordinates a lot of the winter hummingbird banding in the East; Web page is
www.hummingbirdsplus.org."
The rufous hummingbird in Robeson Township is still visiting Harold Lebo's feeder.
Although the Reading Christmas Bird Count was held Sunday, we still have three area counts in which birders can participate, even backyard bird watchers.
This week, on Sunday, both the Hamburg and Elverson counts will be held. To participate, call the compilers: Laurie Goodrich for Hamburg at 570-943-3411, ext. 106, and Bob Cook for Elverson at 610-286-9919. The Bernville count will be held Jan. 2, and the compiler is Ed Barrell at 610-926-2962.
All of the counts need records from the feeder watchers.
We'll have to see whether that Hamburg rufous hangs around that long for a Christmas count first.
