A Hummingbird Extravaganza

On July 23, 2023, Boulder County Audubon, as part of the Interludes with Nature field trip series, held a hummingbird banding workshop led by Steve and Deb Bouricious, with help from Scott Rashid, at their place near Allenspark.

What a wonderful day we had seeing the incredible habitat Steve and Deb have created with their many flowers, forest openings, and hummingbird feeders. Plus we got to see the setup to trap and band hummingbirds. We learned that the Bouriciouses and their neighbors can feed an estimated 8000-15,000 individual hummingbirds daily (!) during peak hummingbird season. This is estimated from how much sugar water is consumed each day. They make up the sweet liquid by the gallon!

During the workshop, we saw both Broad-tailed and Rufous Hummingbirds. Steve and Scott did the banding, while Deb handled the trap levers and brought the captured birds over to the banding table. All banding was conducted by trained hummingbird banders under state and federal permits. Like all migratory birds in North America, hummingbirds are protected and should not be trapped or handled without appropriate permits and training.

Once each hummer was banded (with the tiniest leg bands imaginable), the bird was offered a snack by putting his/her bill in the feeder! See the banding process in the photo gallery below.

Authored by Carron Meaney

---

Interludes with Nature trips financially support Colorado teens to attend the Audobon’s Coastal Maine Bird Studies camp at Hog Island. You can sign up for 2024 Interludes trips at the November Boulder County Audubon meeting, or online after this program (although some trips are sure to sell out that night). Do you know a Colorado teen interested in birds and nature? The Boulder County Audubon Teen Naturalists program has monthly trips all year long and the application for the 2024 scholarship will open in December 2023.

Step 1: Capture hummmingbird. Photo by Leslie Larson.

Step 2. Extract hummingbird gently. Photo by Leslie Larson.

Step 3. Identify and record the species. This is a male Broad-tailed Hummingbird. Photo by Leslie Larson.

Step 4. Band hummingbird. Photo by Leslie Larson.

Step 6. Weigh the hummingbird. It is being “held” within a band used for much larger birds! Photo by Leslie Larson.

Step 6. Take measurements of the hummingbird. Photo by Leslie Larson.

Step 7. Release the hummingbird. Photo by Leslie Larson.

The banding crew. Photo by Debby Miller.

The native plants not only attracted hummingbirds but also tiger swallowtail butterflies.

Up close we can see the emargination on the wing feathers of a male Broad-tailed Hummingbird. It is this gap between the feathers that causes the distinctive “trill” that the males produce in flight. Photo by Leslie Larson.

Interludes participants brought sugar as a donation to support the banding efforts. Hummingbird feeder “water” is a mix of four parts water to one part sugar. Always use plain sugar without additives or coloring. Photo by Debbie Miller.

Male Rufous Hummingbird. Photo by Leslie Larson.

Male Rufous Hummingbird being weighed. Photo by Debby Miller.