Hummingbird Days!

Some days are hummingbird days!  These are days when activity at the nectar feeders so captivates our attention that we don't want to miss anything.  Watching is irresistible. Nothing else gets done!

Ruby-throat approaching Royal Catchfly            Photo by Vickie Henderson

Today was one of those days for me!  Yesterday, I brought home a new native plant species hummingbirds love--Royal Catchfly (Silene regia).  A native prairie plant, it gets its name from glands that secrete a sticky enzyme that attracts and captures insects. Though the plant is related to carnivorous plants, it does not benefit nutritionally from the insects.

Hummer and Royal Catchfly                

The new flower species was only one change that attracted my attention and the hummers.  I added a new feeder.  The two males guarding the four feeders I had out were chasing all the juveniles away. No sooner would an approaching juvenile escape one male, than it would be intercepted by the second. Not nice--but typical hummingbird behavior.    

A juvenile male waiting to approach a feeder.

I added the new feeder around the corner near a small garden.  Wthin minutes of hanging it, Wow! Juveniles! Sometimes two or three arriving at the same time, reacting to each other with tails flared, face-offs and chirps. Very shortly, however, another male showed up.  A beautiful male, breath-taking to see at such close range. I was sitting only a few feet from the feeder.

The male, pictured above, was showing some molting, replacing old feathers with new ones, his feathers getting ready for fall migration.

The tenacity of one of the juveniles was surprising  He did not want to give up his feeder and challenged the male repeatedly.  In the image below, the male is watching the juvenile and balancing to face him as he hovers and threatens.

When the juvenile landed on the feeder after the male departed, the male was quickly on him displaying shuttle dives, short repetitive U-shaped dives, coming very close to the juvenile at its lowest point.  I have seen this display during courtship but never before witnessed it during aggression at the feeder.  Serious stuff. So far, warnings, but getting close to the real thing.

To my relief, the juvenile retreated to the garden and perched on the plant stake supporting the catchfly. For a while, he sat very still, looking like one of the leaves, blending in with the foliage. The male went about his business and the confrontation ended.

Male juvenile, above, hiding in the catchfly, showing developing red gorget feathers as he looks up. Every day of their fast-paced lives holds a survival story!

Juvenile Ruby-throat with Coneflowers     Watercolor by Vickie Henderson

This is the height of hummingbird season, the best time to see and enjoy them. The first juveniles are out of the nest, second nesting has begun, and northern hummingbirds have already begun migration.

For an extra treat this season, join us at the Wonder of Hummingbirds Festival at Ijams Nature Center, in Knoxville, TN, on August 20th to celebrate these magnificent birds!  More information is found in the link below.

Links and resources:

Photo credits:  All the photos in this blog post were taken by Vickie Henderson

Ijams Nature Center website with festival information
Wonder of Hummingbird Festival 

Links for hummingbirds in art:
Hummingbird art at Vickie Henderson Art
Hummingbird posts at Vickie's Sketchhbook
Sketching hummingbirds in flight
Hummingbird Studies in watercolor

Wonder of Hummingbirds Festival Holds Outstanding Event!

Ruby-throated Hummingbird migration is in full swing in Tennessee making this an exciting time of year for hummingbird lovers!  

The male Ruby-throated Hummingbird shown above is molting feathers, meaning the old worn ones are falling out and being replaced with new ones.  Tiny white tubules, that become the feather's shaft, hold the feathers as they grow.  Molting during migration is a sign of health, according to Master Bander, Mark Armstrong.  It means the hummingbird has enough energy reserves, or fat stored, for both migration and healthy growth.

Photo credit:  Jody Stone

On Saturday, Aug 22nd, the Knoxville Chapter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society and Ijams Nature Center hosted their fifth annual Wonder of Hummingbirds Festival in Knoxville and the crowd of people attending were enthusiastic and eager to enjoy the many nature activities offered by the festival.

Photo credit:  Tom Howe

Organized by talented KTOS member, Billie Cantwell, the event attracted more than 1300 visitors who enjoyed hummingbird banding, nature walks, wildlife demonstrations, expert speakers, food and arts and crafts vendors and exciting children's activities!

Photo credit:  Susan Baumgardner

The popular highlight of the event is the hummingbird banding demonstrations offered by Mark Armstrong, Master Bander of hummingbirds and songbirds.

Photo credit:  Jody Stone.   Mark Armstrong examines a hummingbird.

Below, volunteer Andy Troutman removes a male Ruby-throated Hummingbird from one of the bander's traps.  Hummingbirds enter the trap to access the feeder and a door is lowered with an attached line.  

Photo credit:  Susan Baumgardner.  

Once removed from the trap, the hummer is placed in a mesh bag and transported to the bander.

Photo credit:  Jody Stone  

Photo credit:  Susan Baumgardner.

Mark first checks the hummers legs to be sure there is no current band.  He then secures a numbered band around its leg and examines the hummer for age, sex and health.  Measurements are recorded for the tail and beak and the belly is checked for fat to help determine overall health. If the individual is a juvenile male, he also records the number of red feathers on the throat.

Photo credit:  Jody Stone.

Above, Mark Armstrong attaches a numbered band to a hummingbird's leg.  The small stocking covers the hummers head and helps to keep it calm.  Watch the video below to see banding in progress.

 

Video credit:  Jody Stone

Photo credit:  Susan Baumgarder.

Above, Patty Ford gives visitors a close look at a hummingbird before release and below, she gently places a hummingbird in a child's hand for the release.    

Photo credit:  Jody Stone.

The banding station banded 28 hummingbirds and had one male re-capture that was originally banded at the festival three years ago.  The average life-span of a male hummingbird is 1.4 years and the oldest recorded male hummingbird was five years old.  Our re-captured bird is doing well!

I was introduced to hummingbird banding in 2009 at the first banding demonstration held at Ijams Nature Center, sponsored by KTOS, and it has been exciting to watch this event expand and attract the large crowds attending today.  

Photo credit:  Warren Hamlin.  

Above left, my exhibit table at the festival and (right) Stephen Lyn Bales, author, artist and naturalist discussing his natural history books.

             "Hummingbird and Million Bells" -- watercolor by Vickie Henderson

Links and Resources:

2014 Wonder of Hummingbirds Festival

2013 Wonder of Hummingbirds Festival

2009 Hummingbird Banding

Tennessee Wildside video of 2013 festival

Knoxville Chapter of Tennessee Ornithological Society (KTOS)

Ijams Nature Center

A Tiny Hummingbird and a Great Big Trailer!

It was so much fun to see this brand new shiny Conestoga Trailer with my hummingbird image featured on its tail! 

Photo credit:  Melissa Carter

Conestoga has been putting wildlife images on the tails of its trailers for sometime now, featuring both birds and mammals.  You can see some of these images at their gallery featuring their "trailer tails".

One of my birding friends, Wallace Coffey of Bristol, TN, happened to see a trailer with three juvenile owls on the back.  He was so impressed, he asked the driver how the birds happened to be there.  The driver was very cordial and said he was asked about the wildlife art frequently.  He said the owner of the company was a conscientious conservationist and very environment-minded. Wallace, in turn, sent me an email, "Wouldn't it be fun to see a tiny hummingbird featured on the back of one of those big trailers?"  I thought it was a great idea, too!

This week it happened.  The hummingbird image was added to Conestoga's newest trailer by Creative Edge Graphics.  I went to see it yesterday and was wowed. It is stunning! Shiny and beautiful with red lettering matching the red Cardinal Flower visited by a tiny juvenile hummingbird.  This is what drivers on the road will see when they happen to be behind this trailer--a hummingbird traveling all over the country to remind everyone to take care of our environment!

As if hummingbirds visiting our feeders and flowers isn't enough, the timing of this trailer release just adds more excitement as we look forward to our upcoming hummingbird festival.

The Wonder of Hummingbird Festival takes place in Knoxville, Tennessee, at Ijams Nature Center on Saturday, August 22nd.  If you have not already done so, mark your calendar!  The festival features hummingbird banding, expert speakers, nature walks, wildlife demonstrations, and vendors selling food and drinks, native plants and arts and crafts.

                                                                                   Photo credit:  Jody Stone

I will be there with a table of my art.  Come by and say, hello!  Last year one group of hummingbird enthusiasts from Indiana planned their trip to the Smoky Mountains so they could also take in the festival.  Visit this link to see some of last year's festival fun:  Wonder of Hummingbirds.

To see more images of this hummingbird, visit:  Hummingbirds and Pollen

Also visit Wonder of Hummingbirds Festival at East Tennessee River Valley Geotourism

Hummingbird Festival Featured on Tennessee Wild Side

The Wonder of Hummingbirds Festival is featured on Tennessee Wild Side, an Emmy Award winning television production produced by the Renaissance Center.  Enjoy this enchanting program about the festival, its activities and the main star, hummingbirds!

The festival is co-sponsored by the Knoxville Chapter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society and Ijams Nature Center.  The 2014 festival will be held on Saturday, August 23rd.  Mark your calendar!

KTOS is a non-profit organization that promotes the enjoyment, scientific study and conservation of birds. Ijams Nature Center seeks to increase knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the natural world by providing quality environmental education and nature related experiences.

Links and resources:
More about the festival:  Wonder of Hummingbirds Festival
More about hummingbird banding and hummingbirds on this blog
Mark Armstrong
Ruby-throated hummingbirds
Knoxville Chapter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society
Tennessee Wild Side
Ijams Nature Center

Wonder of Hummingbirds Festival is a Great Success!

Knoxville's Wonder of Hummingbirds Festival was a big hit again this year with more than a thousand visitors attending.  Visitors were treated to hummingbird banding, heard educational speakers, watched wildlife demonstrations, and enjoyed vendors with plants, nature related arts and crafts, and, of course, food!

Mark Armstrong, Knoxville's Master Hummingbird bander was assisted by a team from the Knoxville Chapter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society (KTOS) and visitors were able to see hummingbirds expertly banded, measured, and weighed, and each bird released safely back into the wild.

Photo credit:  Billie Cantwell

While Mark was banding hummingbirds, other visitors enjoyed wildlife demonstrations, including parrots, a non-releaseable ground hog and other mammals, and a lovely female American Kestrel exhibited by Stephen Lyn Bales of Ijams.

I abandoned my art exhibit twice to listen to speakers, including David Unger of Maryville College on "The Good Wolf", a presentation that included the myths surrounding the public's fear of wolves and a very interesting report on the beneficial impact of reintroducing wolves to Yellowstone National Park.  Scientists found far more benefit to the ecosystem than they expected.

Biologist David Pitts, below, shared his fascinating study on Ruby-throated hummingbird nesting and the female hummingbird's amazing nesting behavior which has never before been documented.

You probably know by now that female hummingbirds do all the nest building and rearing of young.  They often nest more than one time in a season.  But did you know that they may be laying eggs in one nest while still feeding young in another? Amazingly busy creatures!  More about this interesting lecture in a later blog post.

The festival was packed with vendors including nature crafts, art and photography, plants for your hummingbird garden, and a variety of other nature related vendors including hummingbird feeders, hummingbird swings, and other aids to help your enjoyment of birds.

  Below, Tom Howe, of KTOS, helps a young visitor look through binoculars.

And Cyndi Routledge, below, shows off a Tawny Emperor that rests on her finger.  There were a number of these butterflies around the nature center grounds and visitors had fun viewing them as they landed to feed on salt and minerals.

Stephany Porco, a self-described "butterfly geek", was more than happy to receive the butterfly from Cyndi and study it more closely.

Below, my exhibit table at the festival with watercolor prints, note cards and festival logo mugs (now my favorite coffee mug!)    

It was fun to see my art walking around the festival on logo T-shirts worn by all the KTOS volunteers.  The shirts were also sold to visitors to raise funds for the non-profit organization's conservation projects. 
Below, the beautiful logo banner that welcomed visitors to the festival.  You can find prints and note cards of this watercolor on my website at the following link:  Vickie Henderson Art.

The festival was co-sponsored by the Knoxville Chapter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society and Ijams Nature Center.  KTOS is a non-profit organization that promotes the enjoyment, scientific study and conservation of birds.  Ijams Nature Center seeks to increase knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the natural world by providing quality environmental education and nature related experiences.

Links and resources:
More about hummingbird banding and hummingbirds on this blog
To see a discussion of this painting in process:  Hummingbird Studies
More on hummingbird art
Ruby-throated hummingbirds

Wonder of Hummingbirds Festival--August 24th!

Join us at the Wonder of Hummingbird Festival tomorrow, August 24th and Ijams Nature Center, Knoxville Tennessee.

A fun, exciting event that will be filled with hummingbirds!  Hummingbird banding with Mark Armstrong, our very gentle Master Bander of songbirds and hummingbirds, expert speakers on several different nature subjects including bluebirds, hummingbirds, bears and wolves, vendors with plants and nature crafts, lots of food vendors and wildlife demonstrations!  Great fun and education for the whole family!  

Visit this link to get more information and complete directions:  Wonder of Hummingbird Festival

Learn more about hummingbird banding

More posts about hummingbirds!

To visit my hummingbird art visit:  hummingbirds

Hummingbirds, Pollination and Knoxville's Hummingbird Festival

From flower to flower, hummingbirds accidently carry pollen from one blossom to another.  The pollen sticks to their beak and feathers, and if the flower they visit next happens to be the same species, pollination occurs. 

This series of images tells one story of how that pollination happens.  The red flowers are cardinal flower blossoms and the stigma which releases the flower's pollen sits in a perfect place to rub against the hummingbirds crown as it nectars the flower.

The hummers feathers and the stigma rub against each other, and as the hummer backs out of the flower, the stigma is stimulated to release its pollen, shooting it out as if from a faucet.  

Below, a layer of pale yellow pollen covers the top of the hummer's head, ready to pollinate the next flower visited.

Hummingbirds are fascinating for many reasons.  Next to size and speed, pollination and migration are two of the intriguing qualities of these tiny birds.  On August 24th, when fall migration is at its peak in Tennessee, the Knoxville Chapter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society is celebrating hummingbirds with the Wonder of Hummingbirds Festival featuring hummingbird banding demonstrations by master bander, Mark Armstrong. The festival will also include expert speakers on hummingbirds and other nature topics, nature related vendors, great food, and, of course, I will be there exhibiting art, so come by and visit!

Links and Resources:
Wonder of Hummingbird Festival
Hummingbird Banding
Information about hummingbird gardening and taking care of your feeders below:
Ruby-throated Hummingbird Fish and Wildlife Habitat Management Leaflet