Over the last decade, many people in North Central Washington have observed increasing numbers of over-wintering Anna’s Hummingbirds.
Starting in December, 2021, North Central Washington Audubon Society launched a community science study project to gather data to help answer questions about Anna’s Hummingbird. Read NCWAS’ January 2022 short paper that summarizes the science around winter feeding of Anna’s Hummingbirds in North Central Washington. See the December 2021 compiled results here.
Unanswered questions about Anna’s Hummingbirds in North Central Washington include:
• Is there a persistent breeding population in North Central Washington?
• What nectar sources (feeders and/or plants) are utilized?
• Are the Anna’s hummingbirds we see in winter the same as the Anna’s that are here in the summer?
• Are Anna’s elevational migrants?
Join the Project!
We invite volunteers to be community science volunteer observers who will gather data four times each year- on solstices and equinoxes. Register with project coordinators by sending an email to: NCWAHummerProject@gmail.com. Use this print-able observation form with full instructions. NCWAS has created a handy How to Use eBird resource.
Project Logistics:
WHY: To provide data that scientists can use to answer questions about hummingbird distribution and seasonality
WHO: You! A free eBird account is required.
WHERE: North Central WA Audubon Society’s 4 county area: Chelan, Douglas, Okanogan, & Ferry Counties
WHAT: 60-minute observation period, at either sunrise or sunset. Times provided in the instructions.
WHEN: Next Participation date is March 20, 2022
• 4 times/year, on each solstice and each equinox.
• A total of four species of hummingbirds are expected to be observed throughout the year, but only Anna’s hummingbirds are anticipated to be observed for the December Solstice observation
• 2022 dates are: March 20, June 21, Sept. 22, & Dec. 21.
Resources to Extend Your Learning
North Central Washington Audubon Society Hummingbirds webpage
Campbell, Arthur, Anna’s Hummingbirds, The Methow Naturalist, Vol. 26, No. 3, Fall 2021
Greig, Emma, Anna’s Hummingbirds Moving North, Focus on Citizen Science, Winter Bird Highlights from Project Feederwatch 2016-2017, Vol. 13
eBird Science: Global Patterns of Bird Abundance and Distribution Revealed for 1,009 Species by Kathi Borgmann November 17, 2021
Boise State faculty biologists have recently published two papers, using data gathered in part by community science volunteers, introduced in this blog: First Documentation for the Successful Breeding of the Anna’s Hummingbirds in Idaho, and Monitoring Through Community Science: Anna’s Hummingbird Winter Range Expansion into Idaho. Visit their Anna’s Hummingbird webpage.
John Alexander, Elizabeth Williams, Caitlyn Gillespie, Sarahy Contreas-Martinez, and Deborah Finch. Effects of Fire and Restoration on Habitats and Populations of Western Hummingbirds: A Literature Review. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, GTR RMRS-GTR-408, March 2020.
USDA Forest Service. Maintaining and Improving Habitat for Hummingbirds in Oregon and Washington – A Land Manager’s Guide. FS-1039a, August 2014.
Gillespie CR, Contreras-Martínez S, Bishop CA, Alexander JD. 2020. State of the Rufous Hummingbird science and conservation. Western Hummingbird Partnership, Boulder, CO
Winter range expansion of a hummingbird is associated with urbanization and supplementary feeding
Emma I. Greig, Eric M. Wood, and David N. Bonter Published:05 April 2017.
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2017.0256
The National Audubon Society offered a national community science hummingbird monitoring project (2013-2021) titled Hummingbirds at Home. Data collected resulted in a peer-reviewed scientific article. Read it here and see a list of recommendations for ways to create hummingbird habitat in your yard here.
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