I hope you’ll join me on winter solstice to observe and collect data about Anna’s Hummingbirds using backyard heated feeders in North Central Washington. NCW Audubon Society’s board member and guest blogger, Bruce McCammon, leads this Community Science project. We invites new volunteers to join us in gathering and sharing our observations on Tuesday, 12/21/22. You can volunteer to be part of this community science network by sending an email to ncwahummerproject@gmail.com.

Be sure to read the bios of photographers Frank Cone and Bruce McCammon at the end of the piece.

Hummingbirds….We have so many questions about these wee birds. We are fortunate to have four hummingbird species visit North Central Washington – Anna’s, Calliope, Black-chinned, and Rufous.  Only the Anna’s is present all year, the other three species all migrate south to Mexico during winter months. While these birds all delight us with their antics and energy in our gardens and at our feeders, we know very little about them.   

Being the smallest birds, hummingbirds would likely be highly vulnerable to change. How do they respond to changing climate conditions and habitat loss?  Ecologically, three of our four hummingbird species are categorized as “least concern”. One species, however, is rated “near threatened”.  Do you know which species is trending downward on the ecological ladder?  It’s the Rufous which is now, unfortunately, listed as a “tipping point species” which has lost 50% of its habitat since 1970.

Many of our questions center around hummingbird dynamics. Do we see the same birds each year? Do the hummingbirds migrate up or down in elevation? Where do Anna’s Hummingbirds find protein in winter? Some of these questions can only be answered through deliberate study and tracking. Traditionally, banding is the go-to technique for tracking bird’s movements and range as well as their possible return to an area over and over.

Banding a hummingbird is a highly skilled activity that requires a federal license to handle the birds, place teensy bands on their fragile legs, and gather the all-important data about sex, size, condition. Repeat captures of hummingbirds may give us some answers. But we don’t have any licensed banders in our area so our questions about local birds remain. Maybe new technology will allow us to census hummingbirds repeatedly without a need to recapture them. Such technology exists and is being used to track many bird species or butterflies.

Until we find a way to monitor specific hummingbirds over time, our questions will go unanswered. The North Central Washington Audubon Society is attempting to gather useful information about the hummingbirds in our area using a community science approach. We host a hummingbird survey four times each year – on the annual solstice and equinox dates. Survey volunteers commit to a one-hour survey that takes place beginning thirty minutes before and ending thirty minutes after sunrise or sunset. The data is entered into eBird where it has the greatest potential to be used by scientists and researchers.  The results of the surveys to-date are shown in the table below.

	12/21/21	3/20/22	6/20/22	9/25/22
No of birds	59	25	9	15
No. of observers	27	31	10	6

These tiny birds endure extreme cold, a wide variety of threats and challenges, and are still expanding their range to the north and east. Another important source of data is the Christmas Bird Count (CBC). The first Anna’s Hummingbird to be documented in the Twisp CBC occurred in 2020.  The first one to be documented in the Republic CBC was in 2021. Recent publications also document their movement and successful breeding in the Boise area. 2021 provided the first documentation of successful nesting by Anna’s in Wenatchee. It’s exciting to know that Anna’s Hummingbirds can be seen all year and over larger areas. And yet, questions remain.

We could use your help.  If you would like to participate in the North Central Washington hummingbird survey, the next opportunity is December 21, 2022. 

You can volunteer to be part of this community science network by sending an email to ncwahummerproject@gmail.com.

You can find background information about this survey on the hummingbird page of the North Central Washington Audubon website .

While you’re on that page, look at all the other information about hummingbirds that is linked.

We hope you can be part of our effort to learn about the hummingbirds in our area. If not, please continue to marvel at their energy, attitudes, and brilliant colors when you can. Maybe you’ll have questions too.  Better yet, maybe you’ll be the one to find the answer to an important question.

I can be reached at bruce.mccammon@gmail.com or ncwaudubon@gmail.com

Frank Cone artfully captures avian subjects throughout the Wenatchee Valley, including at his backyard hummingbird feeder. Frank is a lifelong resident of the Wenatchee Valley. He has held a variety of jobs from Humane Officer to working for Chelan County in the Planning Department. He started pursuing photography approximately 18 years ago. He enjoys all aspects of photography, mainly focusing on birds and macro work.  Visit his Flickr websiter especially to see his great blue heron and bald eagle images. Read a Wenatchee Naturalist blog featuring a series of his spectacular osprey photography.

Guest blogger, Bruce McCammon lives in Wenatchee and is a member of the North Central Washington Audubon Society board. He is an active bird photographer, creator of the popular Common Birds of North Central Washington poster, and self-published a book, Bird Tales-100 Photo Essays,  in 2019. He has a keen interest in hummingbirds and co-leads the NCWAS Hummingbird project. Read an earlier blog post about his experienced monitoring and filming hummingbird nests, starting in 2019. A photo taken during 2019 effort was a winner in the Hummingbird Monitoring Network’s international photo contest. Watch a short video highlighting the nesting and rearing of young, filmed in a Wenatchee backyard by Bruce. Still learning about and fascinated by hummingbirds, Bruce continues to study and admire hummingbirds. Contact Bruce at bruce.mccammon@gmail.com