Subject: Rufous Hummingbirds
Date: Feb 18 08:33:26 1996
From: Michael Price - mprice at mindlink.bc.ca


Hi Tweets,

On Sat. 1 Feb. Charles Vaughn wrote:

>There was mention of Rufous Hummingbirds in a recent post. We always have
a
>family best guess contest for the return date. Recent dates have been in
>the range from about March 5 to March 20. My rule of thumb is to watch
for
>the Salmon Berry blossoms; I have never seen a Rufous H. before these are
>out, I think they follow them north. Any other "rules of thumb" or
>different date ranges?

(snip)

The Rufous Hummingbird's average arrival date in Vancouver BC is March 11,
with the last few years tending early.

Secondly, in the early 1980's, I found an early male RUHU nosing around
ornamental cherry-blossoms on a residential street in Kerrisdale, a
neighborhood on the south side of Vancouver on Feb. 28. Since Kerrisdale
also supports a small population of resident Anna's Hummingbirds, the
sighting made me wonder idly if the RUHU hadn't wintered there too. I don't
think so, as the species hasn't shown any observable inclination or
tendency in that direction anywhere else in the Cascadian region, but not
completely impossible.

Michael Price The only alien planet is Earth.
Vancouver BC Canada
mprice at mindlink.net - J.G. Ballard