So far, this has been a reasonably respectful discussion, and I will try to
keep it at that level.  I have been banding birds for a little more than two
years, and after much intensive training I think I am about to get the hang
of it.  Even so, I am not qualified to band hummingbirds.  In Ohio, I don't
know of anyone other than Tim Tolford who has a hummingbird banding program.
 Alan Chartier is a well-known hummingbird bander in Michigan.  Doubtless
there are a handful elsewhere in the Midwest, but I am not acquainted with
them.
Hummingbird banding requires specialized traps, tools, and bands.  On the
two occasions when I have had hummingbirds in my nets, I have extracted and
released them.

The point I am making here is that there is not a vast corps of unqualified
banders mistreating hummingbirds.  The banders who are called in to capture
and band out-of-range hummingbirds are highly qualified, very experienced,
and equipped with the proper tools to safely capture and process
hummingbirds.  As for the proposition that banding is harmful to birds,
there are hundreds of records of birds carrying bands for ten years or more.
 A recent article in "The North American Bander" reported the case of a
White-eyed Vireo in New York that had been caught 11 times over 9 years.
 Obviously, neither the mist net interaction nor the band was causing this
bird any problems.

As a photographer (if I may so dignify myself), I would venture to say that
photographing hummingbirds to the standards required to permit aging and
sexing is a formidable task.  Most of the breathtaking photos one sees in
various glossy magazines involve very fast strobe lights triggered by some
sort of ingenious electronic device.  This is a technology level that is
well beyond the capabilities of most of us amateurs.

Most of the hummingbird problems in our area are concerned with
distinguishing Ruby-throated from Black-chinned and Rufous from Allen's.
 Anyone not familiar with Peter Pyle's monumental two-volume
"Idsentification Guide to North American Birds" should take a look at the
section on small hummingbirds.  (Your local bird bander has a copy.)  The
problem comes from the overlapping distributions of the data on wing chord,
tail length, exposed culmen, tail fork, width of the fifth rectrix, outer
primary shape, relative size of certain primaries, amount of rufous in the
tail, and flank color.  Photography could probably handle the latter two,
but even with a state-of-the-art hummingbird photography setup, I doubt if
the photos would capture sufficient detail to allow the fine distinctions in
the shapes, proportions, and relative sizes required.  There is no
substitute for handling the bird and taking actual measurements.

Why should we do this?  Knowledge of the age and sex of the bird gives us an
idea of the source of our strays, the age structure of the population, and
the sex ratio, often an indicator of the health of the population.  And of
course, there is the matter of determinating of whether our stray
hummingbirds are just incompetent, or whether there is a real trend here.
 Winter records of rufous hummers, for instance, are getting so regular they
might soon arguably be considered very rare winter residents.

Cheers,

Bob


On Fri, Oct 16, 2009 at 12:22 PM, Jackie Augustine <
[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Hello all,
>
> I would like to second Dave's endorsement of bird banding, especially
> hummingbird banding.  Bird banding is a highly-regulated endeavor, and like
> physicians, a bander's first priority is to 'do no harm.' Bird watchers and
> scientists would only have a general idea of the movements of hummingbirds
> without banding them.  Hummingbirds can be quick and inconspicuous during
> migration, so occurrence data is of limited use. Here is an interesting
> website describing the details of hummingbird banding as well as some
> interesting movements of individual birds:
> http://losbird.org/bulletin/03newfield.htm
>
> -Jackie Augustine
> Lima, OH
>



--
Robert D Powell
Congress Farm Research Institute
Wilmington, OH, USA
[log in to unmask]
http://rdp1710.wordpress.com

Nulla dies sine aves

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