Subject: [Tweeters] Hummer activity on Oak Bay. 2005 to 2007
Date: Jan 28 12:56:54 2008
From: Richard Carlson - rccarl at pacbell.net


Tweeters:

I don't know if there is experimental data, but my
hummers at Tahoe and Tucson appear to have a learning
curve and a memory. That means that once they know
the feeders are there, I'm one of the first places
that get checked when they return the next year. I'm
also one of the last spots to see the last migrants.
The result looks like they come earlier and earlier,
but I think that they're just smarter than we think.

RCC

--- Dave Nuttall <dave_nuttall at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Here is a link to a jpg image of a chart showing
> sugar consumption (in grams/day) from the feeders at
> our house on the south side of Oak Bay (near Port
> Ludlow) over the last three years:
>
> http://www.box.net/shared/239plircw8
>
> A few observations:
>
> The bulk of the population are Rufus. We had no
> Anna's in 2005, 3 possible Anna's in 2006, and
> several definite sightings in 2007 (including one in
> January). The peak Rufus count is in the 900 to 1100
> range.
>
> The summer residence period seems to be steadily
> broadening, but the population peaks seem to be
> variable (I am assuming that the birds take a fixed
> proportion of their food requirements from the
> feeders each day).
>
> Dave Nuttall
> Oak Bay, WA
> djhn42-tweet at yahoo.com>
_______________________________________________
> Tweeters mailing list
> Tweeters at u.washington.edu
>
http://mailman1.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters
>


Richard Carlson
Full-time Birder, Biker and Rotarian
Part-time Economist
Tucson, AZ, Lake Tahoe, CA, & Kirkland, WA
rccarl at pacbell.net
Tucson 520-760-4935
Tahoe 530-581-0624
Kirkland 425-828-3819
Cell 650-280-2965