Yesterday I attend an annual "Wild Wings" program at the Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens in Belmont, NC. A wildlife biologist, Susan Campbell, was there for the seventh year to catch, measure, weigh, mark, band and release hummingbirds in the gardens. It was a fasinating afternoon!
Here is a series of photos I took showing the different steps that Susan Campbell performed on the hummingbirds. (I got to see two females and a male.)
Susan Campbell, a volunteer biologist for the hummingbird program.
After catching the hummingbird, it is put in a blue mesh bag to bring back for Susan. She carefully removes the bird and wraps it with a small piece of white cloth.
Here you can see the little bill of a female rubby throated hummingbird sticking out from the cloth in her hand.
Here you can see abit more of the hummingbird.
Susan applies the band.
Here you can see the hummingbird's face.
Susan inspects the bill for any damage.
Another peak at the hummingbird!
Here Susan is measuring the length of the hummingbird.
Susan also measures the length of the bill.
More measuring of the hummingbird's body.
Here's a view on the back end of the hummingbird before she put it on a small scale to weigh it.
Susan applies a small white dot of craft glue to the top of the head, so that they do not catch the same bird twice on the same day.
Here you can see the hummingbird with the white dot on it's head.
A nice close-up of the female hummingbird.
A slightly different angle showing the underside of the bill.
Susan offers the hummingbird some nectar from a feeder before it is released. (A reward for being so good!)
Here's a photo of the little hummingbird in the palm of a child's hand just before it was released back into the wild. (Sorry... this photo was abit blurry)
Here's a close-up of a ruby throated juvenile male hummingbird after being banded.
Another view of the same juvenile male showing his beautiful ruby throat!
Well, I hope you enjoyed coming along on my afternoon "up close and personal" adventure with the hummingbirds!
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Comments: 81
There's a program similar to this at Huntington Beach State Park for the Painted Buntings. They were here 2 weeks ago catching & banding the birds, I didn't know about it till afterit already happened.
I nearly missed this event, too. Fortunately I got a reminder email the day before, so off I went the next morning with my trusty camera! LOL
great shots as always Sue
Wonderful photo essay, Sue!
I've had a few hummers get "trapped" in the garage and exhaust themselves trying to get out the window. I say "trapped" because the roll-up garage door would be open, but they would ignore that while trying to get out a closed window. I found that if I could cup them loosely in my two hands, they would sit quietly. They can't walk , only fly, so if there's not enough room to extend the wings, they don't try. I also found that I could hold them loosely and offer them nectar, and they would drink it without a fuss. Once "refueled" I could just release them outside. Amazing little birds!
Susan Campbell mentioned yesterday that one of the main reasons hummingbirds fly into garages is because they see the bright orange mechanism that hangs down on the garage door opener inside some garages. If it becomes a real problem, she suggested hanging a hummingbird feeder just outside the garage door to attract their attention so they don't go inside.
Thank you so much!