From a post to BIRDALERT, HUMNET & LABIRD

Our Selasphorus hand is complete in the Shreveport area!
We seem to get a shadow of what the Gulf coast gets in the way of hummingbirds but until this year, no Calliope.

This is North Louisiana's first record for Calliope.

Bill's Wood's home fits the pattern for wintering hummers here in fringe of winter hummer range. Behind his house is a pond. Along the pond and also right behind Bill's house is a thicket including some tardily deciduous plants such as privet and Japanese Honeysuckle. In his front yard is a live oak.

All of these habitat elements coupled with his plantings of Cuphea and Salvia no doubt attracted this bird. The pattern of winter hummers showing up at homes with a farm pond or lake adjacent is becoming more clear here with each new winter hummer.

Either the micro-climate or insect population associated with the water or both must be primary attractants.

Paul Dickson
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See more of Bill's Birds on Jeff Trahan's site.

See the pictoral details of the banding of a female Rufous Hummingbird by Paul Dickson on February 9, 2005. Gloria Frantom's Hummingbird also on Jeff Trahan's site.

Bird Group:

I made a long awaited and exciting capture this morning at
the Crnkovik's in Stonewall (Amanda's in-laws).

They have hosted an adult female Rufous, named Sydney, all winter that was first banded at Hubert's house in October 28, 2003.

They noted this bird's arrival in October of this year.

This is our area's first ever confirmed (or even suspected for that matter) returning winter hummer.

Sydney was trap shy and required many dawn trips to their house to subdue.

She made one great escape and defied my usual capture techniques.

Thanks to patience on their part (allowing this man show up at their house and sit in their kitchen at 6:30 AM over and over) and some schemes on my part (a decoy, a new trap design, a dummy trap) we finally coaxed her into being handled once more.

This changes the status of the species in this area to "local fall and winter resident".

Paul Dickson