NOTEWORTHY HUMMINGBIRD CAPTURES
from the Rudeen Ranch, Power County, Idaho

2003 -- Our first Memorial Day Weekend trip exceeded all expectations! During the 2 day banding event (Sun & Mon), we banded 209 hummingbirds! We'll be back!!

2004 -- August 4 -- A probable HYBRID (Black-chinned x Calliope) hummingbird was discovered and banded at the Ranch during our special early August banding session. This immature-plumaged bird is shown and described in more detail here.

2004 -- August 4 -- A female Calliope originally banded by fellow hummingbird bander Joan Day-Martin near Silver City, New Mexico on August 13, 2003 was captured at the Rudeen Ranch! The distance between capture sites is approximately ______ miles away.

2005 -- May 30 -- The same female Calliope originally banded in New Mexico (encountered at the Rudeen Ranch in 2004) was back! We captured her for the second consecutive year.

2005 -- We received word that a female Black-chinned Hummingbird banded at the Rudeen Ranch by Peggy Peterson on May 31, 2004 was recaptured in Ramsey Canyon, southeastern Arizona by fellow hummingbird bander Susan Wethington on September 6, 2005! The distance between capture sites is approximately _____ miles away.

2006 -- May 28 -- Stacy Peterson captured and banded another probable HYBRID, this time a Calliope x Broad-tailed. Photos and details will be provided soon. As Peterson was feeding this bird from a feeder, ANOTHER similarly-plumaged probable hybrid was observed!

2006 -- May 29 -- Visiting Alabama humbander Fred Bassett banded another probable HYBRID -- likely the second Calliope x Broad-tailed observed yesterday! Unfortunately this bird escaped before it could be photographed, but we all enjoyed good looks!

2006 -- August 9 -- Fred Bassett and trainee Carl Rudeen banded 2 more HYBRIDS -- likely Calliope x Broad-taileds during their training sessions at the ranch.

2006 -- By the end of the 2006 banding season, we had banded 1370 hummingbirds during the previous 4 seasons.

2007 -- May 27 -- Stacy captured another potential hybrid, this one apparently a Calliope x Black-chinned female. DNA analysis from feather samples may give us the first conclusive evidence of hybridization at the ranch.

2007 -- We banded 403 individuals and recaptured 233 more from previous seasons, for a total of 636 hummingbirds encountered in the day and a half of banding during Memorial Day Weekend!

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