Since 1997 the dates of the first Ruby-throated Hummingbird arrivals in Canada each spring have been recorded, and later their breeding success has been noted. They have been pushing steadily west.
Ruby-throated Hummingbird Arrival Dates in Manitoba and Québec
In 1997 the first arrivals around Winnipeg (Manitoba) were noted on 18 May, and for the next 14 years the May arrival dates go: 14, 14, 6, 9, 14, 15, 15, 15, 9, 5, 12, 11, 17, 9 (in 2011).
Since 2006 much more detail is available for Québec (see Project Colubris below), where many precise arrival dates and locations are available since 2008, and 'cluster' dates and location for 2006 and 2007. Earliest arrivals for Québec City area 2008 to 2010 are May 7, 2, 5 respectively – and for 2011 April 25 (with three others 1, 2, 3, May).
Ruby-throated Hummingbird Breeding Range
Breeding range expanded steadily west and north between 2000 and 2010. In 2000 it stopped in Alberta, and by 2010 it extended as far as the Pacific coast of British Columbia around Vancouver (Hummingbirds.net).
Project Colubris in Québec
Project Colubris ('Ruby-throated Hummingbirds in Québec') is doing much more than simply recording arrival dates and breeding success – it is trying to work out: 'the impact ... of human activities on the survival of hummingbird populations'. The methods used include:
- capturing birds for : 'marking, banding and microchip installation',
- recording: 'Hummingbirds’ feeder use',
- carrying out: 'plant inventories ... to evaluate habitat preference and assess potential use of wildflowers'.
Project Colubris relies on the help of all hummingbird lovers in Québec, and hopes: 'the maximum possible number of observers will participate'.
The Ruby-throated Hummingbird
The Ruby-throated Hummingbird is the only North American hummingbird to nest in the eastern U.S. and Canada, arriving each spring and returning to Mexico and Central America in late summer. Among many possibe factors, the birds' expanding range is attributed in part to northern sapsucker well construction as well as the increasing use of artificial feeders.'
The bird itself is charming, and it seems very exotic in the Canadian spring, often arriving when there is still snow on the ground. Detailed studies of migration routes through America, and arrival dates (and breeding range) in Canada can maybe tell us a lot about the effects of; habitat loss, global warming, and solar activity, on hummingbirds.
The Ruby-throated Hummingbird as an Indicator Species
It might prove difficult to disentangle the effects of humans providing a steady, additional, food source (maintaining hummingbird feeders) from any effects brought about by climate change, but the breeding range seems to extend further north and west each year, and first spring arrival dates appear to be getting earlier.
Fortunately (for human research – but maybe not the birds!) a geomagnetic storm hit during the peak migration (south) in 2011. Banding hummingbirds will allow details of their migration routes to be given more precision (by re-capture of birds banded elsewhere), and it might be possible to work out how much effect solar activity has on navigation at night.
Detailed monitoring of the Ruby-throated Hummingbird's arrival dates in Canada and its breeding range there could show how human activities, climate change, and solar activity affect wildlife in general.
Sources:
- ' Ruby-throated Hummingbirds in Québec ', Marc Bélisle, Université de Sherbrooke, Project Colubris.
- 'Spring 2011 Migration of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds' Hummingbirds.net (where earlier maps can also be accessed).
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