Stacy Jon Peterson
Eagle River, Alaska
Federal master banding permit: 23148
Idaho state banding permit: 010516

HISTORY OF HUMMINGBIRD BANDING IN IDAHO
To my knowledge, one other bander -- the late Bill Calder of Arizona -- has ever banded hummingbirds in Idaho prior to 2001. In that year, I became the first Idaho resident to conduct hummingbird banding research in the state. In 2003 my father, Terry Peterson of Caldwell, obtained his subpermit under my master permit, becoming the second Idaho resident currently licensed to band hummingbirds. In December 2004 we added two more licensed hummingbird banders to our team -- my mother, Peggy Peterson, and a good friend Greg Wardwell. Another friend, Fred Bassett of Montgomery, Alabama, now travels here annually to band hummingbirds as part of his own research. Our learning curve is very steep, and there's a LOT left for us to learn about this group of birds in this state. It's great to have such a fine team of researchers working on those questions.

Banding hummingbirds is much more involved than banding passerines or other larger birds. Their dimunitive size requires incredibly small, lightweight bands, and affixing those bands properly and safely around the birds' leg requires extra care and attention to detail. It also requires special training and additional authorization from federal and in many cases, state authorities. These reasons alone help explain why there are only about 200 licensed hummingbird banders in the United States and Canada. (The band at left was applied to this female Calliope Hummingbird in New Mexico in the fall of 2002 by fellow humbander Joan Day-Martin. I encountered this bird first in August 2004 and again in May 2005 -- both times on the presumed breeding grounds at the Rudeen Ranch in southeastern Idaho!)

But aside from that, all other bird bands are provided fully formed ("ringed") by the Bird Banding Lab in Laurel, Maryland. Hummingbird bands, on the other hand, come from the Lab pre-printed on very thin sheets of aluminum. It falls on the hummingbird bander, then, to carefully cut, file smooth, and form these miniscule bands into properly-sized rings for the various species we'll be banding. This tedious, time-consuming task is probably another reason for the paucity of hummingbird banders, and illustrates the dedication and care that hummingbird banders have for their research subjects.

Some hummingbird banding trivia:

• Each band for an average hummingbird (Rufous / Black-chinned, etc.) weighs about 6.6 milligrams. It takes over 4350 of them to weigh one ounce!
• During the spring and summer, most Calliope Hummingbirds weigh only as much as one penny. One new penny weighs 2.5 grams.
• Rufous and Black-chinned Hummingbirds weigh about 3.0-3.5 grams.
• You could mail 8-10 hummingbirds with a 1st class stamp (since it takes that many to weigh one ounce).
• When hummingbirds are fully fattened up and ready to migrate in the fall, they can literally double their body weight!
• Hummingbird banding data has shown that wild hummingbirds can live as long as 12 years! The average lifespan is thought to be closer to 3-5 years, though.

Our Research

Since very little has been documented with Idaho hummingbirds, our primary interest is in learning about the site fidelity and habitat usage of Idaho hummingbirds during breeding season, migration, and winter. (YES, hummingbirds can and do visit Idaho in winter. These are mostly Anna's Hummingbirds -- larger, hearty species which have expanded their breeding range into southwestern British Columbia in recent decades). Do Idaho's Anna's Hummingbirds return to the same sites each winter? What if the habitat of these sites changes over time? How will such changes effect the usage of these sites? Will there be differences noted in age and/or sex ratios using those sites as changes occur?

It's clear that these are long-term questions. As a spouse of a military officer, I move around a lot. We left Idaho in the summer of 2005 and now reside about 10 miles north of Anchorage, Alaska. Fortunately, I'm excited about leaving Idaho in the capable hummer-banding hands of my parents and Greg Wardwell who will, with their own federal and state subpermits, work under my permit as we continue to pursue answers to these questions. This will also give me the opportunity to address some of these same questions with Rufous Hummingbirds at the extreme north end of their breeding range at the same time! (Yes, they do breed very close to Anchorage).

An important part of our hummingbird banding research protocol involves public education. We attempt to arrange several banding locales during the season where the public can come and observe hummingbird banding in action and learn more about these incredible birds. The 2004 season was fairly full, but out of necessity subsequent seasons may be less so. However, watch this website for dates and locations where the public are invited to observe. We'd love to see you!

Read How HumBanding Is Done Here...

"Hooked on Hummingbirds" video & other Fundraisers

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