Hi all,
 
At noon today, the hummingbird in Bexley was caught by Allen Chartier,
and positively identified as an adult female Rufous Hummingbird.
Although a bit of a wait was required, the hummer eventually appeared
and was caught easily enough. She was a champ and handled the data
gathering and banding process beautifully and was released shortly
thereafter.  It must be noted that these vagrant hummingbirds are not
being captured just to prove what species they are, although that is
obviously an important question only answered in some cases by capturing
the bird. Banding of hummingbirds has shed light on some of the
mysteries of these little sprites, including sex and age of birds,
health, and site fidelity.
 
Big thanks to Allen for making the trip down from Michigan and once
again lending his expertise. And kudos to the homeowner, JoAnn LaMuth,
who has been exceedingly gracious towards the birding community and has
welcomed birders wishing to see the hummingbird.
 
A reporter from the Columbus Dispatch and a photographer were on hand
when the bird was caught. They got a great story and lots of awesome
photos. I understand that the story will run next Tuesday in the science
pages of the Dispatch: http://www.dispatch.com, which is available
online. I also got lots of great photos and even video, and I'll get a
story and pics up on my blog: http://jimmccormac.blogspot.com/ sometime
in the next day or so.
 
Jim
 
Jim McCormac
Ohio Division of Wildlife
2045 Morse Rd., G-3
Columbus, Ohio 43229
614-265-6440
614-262-1143 fax
 

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