Refuge Notebook
Peninsula Clarion Article
Dated
6 July 2001
Hmmmmmm…..Was that a Hummingbird?
by Todd Eskelin
I
am often asked, "What is the smallest bird in Alaska?" That’s easy,
the Rufous Hummingbird. Your typical Rufous Hummingbird is less than 4 inches
long and weighs 3.25 grams, only slightly heavier than a penny. People next want
to know where they can see a hummingbird. That is a tougher question. Rufous Hummingbirds
breed from Northern California up the coast through Prince William Sound. They
are known to breed in Portage and have been documented breeding along the south
coast of Kachemak Bay. They have not yet been found breeding here in the central
Kenai Peninsula, but I am convinced there is a good chance that they might.
Rufous
Hummingbirds may be small, but what they lack in size they compensate for with
one of the most amazing migrations known in the bird world. During late July these
little adventurers leave Alaska and head south to Mexico. If one measures the
distance in body lengths, this is a greater migration than the famed Arctic Tern,
which flies over 11,000 miles to its wintering area in Antarctica. Many Alaskans
head to Mexico for the winter, but we fly in a 737. Pound for pound it would take
78,000,000 hummingbirds to match the weight of one 737 commercial jet.
Chances
are you will never find a hummingbird nest, even if it is in your own back yard.
Most Rufous Hummingbird nests are made of lichens, moss and fragments of bark,
bound together with strands of spider web and lined with soft downy plant material
like cottonwood fluff. Typically, nests are located in the droopy branches of
a large spruce tree about 8 to 12 feet above the ground. In Southeast Alaska they
have been known to build nests in ferns and vines overhanging embankments. So,
if you can’t find a nest, how do we know where they are breeding? The best
way is to watch for them at your flower garden or hummingbird feeder and look
for young birds. Soon after they leave the nest, the parents will take the youngsters
to their favorite feeding areas and teach them how to find nectar. The parents
will collect some nectar while the fledglings are watching near by. Then you will
see the parents go over and regurgitate the nectar to the fluffy little fledglings.
So if you have hummingbirds in your yard, pay special attention in the end of
June and early July to see if there are any fluffy young birds that do not fly
very well. This is a sure sign that there was a nest in your area.
There
are several things we can do to attract hummingbirds to our yards. The best way
is provide them with plenty of nectar. Hummingbirds require one half of their
body weight a day just to stay warm. During late summer they need to store fat
for the long migration so they will eat/drink even more. Approximately 85 percent
of their diet is nectar, but they do supplement it with small insects and an occasional
spider. Planting the entire yard with showy tubular type flowers like paintbrushes,
mints, larkspurs and honeysuckle is a good start at bringing in hummers. Bright
red flowers are often favorites for most hummingbirds. Fireweed is also a preferred
food in our area. If gardening is not your forte, try hummingbird feeders filled
with artificial nectar. These feeders require a lot of maintenance, as they are
very susceptible to fungus and mold. It is recommended that these feeders be cleaned
at least once per week with soap and hot water. Another problem is that they attract
unwelcome visitors like bears and bees. The bear problem can be avoided by hanging
the feeder where it is unreachable by bears. If you have a bear visit, take the
feeder down and put it away for another year. A well-kept flower garden does a
good job at attracting and keeping these tiny birds around.
So the next
time you are in the yard and you think you hear a bumblebee buzzing around in
the flower patch, take a second to check and see if it isn’t a hummingbird
grabbing a bite to eat before a long journey south. There have been a couple of
accidental sightings of other hummingbird species in Anchorage like the Costa’s
Hummingbird a few years ago and Anna’s Hummingbird has been seen. If you
see any hummingbirds on the Kenai Peninsula, please take a picture, and report
your sightings to Todd Eskelin at the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge (262-7021).
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Todd
Eskelin, a Biological Technician, has conducted bird studies throughout the state
specializing in songbirds. He recently accepted a position at the Kenai Refuge
where he plans to continue his work with birds. Previous Refuge Notebook columns
can be viewed on the Web at http://kenai.fws.gov.
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