Operation RubyThroat: The Hummingbird Project

Hilton Pond Center For Piedmont Natural History, York SC

Investigators

Abstract

In response to an Announcement of Opportunity for the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment Program (GLOBE) this project is designed to meet GLOBE goals and objectives of linking scientists and schoolchildren in a global information network with the ultimate goal of better understanding Earth's environment and changes that take place within it. This project will design a new observation protocol for use at GLOBE schools in order to detect annual changes in migration of the ruby throated hummingbird (Archilocus colubris), the widest ranging hummingbird commonly observed in 38 Eastern U.S. states and 7 Canadian provinces, and in their wintering grounds in Mexico and Central America. Little is known about the drivers for migration, nesting and re-nesting activity, primarily because a systematic set of observations across the species range is absent, and because recapture of banded specimens is exceedingly rare. Trends in current data cannot be attributed to actual changes in the population because they simply may be due to an increased amount of reporting. This observation-only program will gather data on first appearance, flower species visited, sex and/or age, and duration of feeding at participating schools. These observations will be taken in concert with other GLOBE measurements of atmospheric condition and phenology, giving the potential for correlating the humming bird's behavior with environmental factors such as time of year, location, and weather.