OBSERVATION:
Spending every Easter weekend on Texada Island, British Columbia has been a long-standing tradition with my family and it has led me to make one particularly interesting observation: the potentially changing migration patterns of hummingbirds. Easily viewed from our patio, their energy and aggression towards other species has always held my attention and this for the past couple of years I observed a noticeably higher amount of the hummingbirds feeding in the area at this time.
What I am most interesting in understanding is what factors are making more of the hummingbirds come at this time of year, what that means for their migration patterns and how the hummingbirds’ migratory patterns are affecting other species and organisms.
BACKGROUND:
Texada Island is located up the Sunshine Coast just across from Powell River, B.C. and it has been referred to as a “a birdwatchers' paradise, [as it] has more than 250 resident and migrant species of birds including cormorants, herons, bald eagles, Rufous hummingbirds, and Anna’s [hummingbirds]” (On Texada Island, 2016).
Considering the rapid decline of the world’s bee population, hummingbirds play an exceedingly important role in keeping “countless plant species healthy and producing the fruits that many other species depend on” (Marland, 2012) as they are considered to be high pollinators. With a wide assortment of food sources including “the nectar from colorful, tubular flowers including columbine, scarlet gilia, penstemon, Indian paintbrush, mints, lilies, fireweeds, larkspurs, currants, and heaths” (Rufous Hummingbird, 2015) I believe there is the potential for a massive ripple effect occurring from any disruptions to their flight paths and migratory patterns.
Global warming’s impact on the aforementioned food sources are also a potential cause of concern as it has “a great effect on the flowering pattern that the birds rely on to travel up and down the continent. As we enter a warming phase, changes to water availability will impact the abundance of nectar resources, as well as the types of flora and timing of flowering. This could disrupt the wave of flowering that the hummingbirds follow and compromise their ability to migrate successfully” (The Hummingbird Project of BC, 2012). Furthermore, the hummingbird migration is “triggered by the bird's internal clock and levels of sunshine” (The Hummingbird Project of BC, 2012) and as such it is likely that global warming impacts not only their source of food but their migratory patterns as well. However, as of yet, little is known about the “degree to which hummingbirds are able to adapt and accommodate [to temperature] changes” (Hummingbirds at Home, n.d.).
CONSULTS:
I am asking the following consults for any more information that they can gather about the hummingbird, their migratory patterns and the effect any changes to these patterns has (or would have) on the ecosystems the birds are a part of: Andre Dhondt, Director – Bird Population Studies (preferred); Peter Marra, Ornithologist – Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center; Crystal Ruiz, Administrator – American Ornithologist Union
Crystal Ruiz replied suggesting the following article: Stopover biology of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris) during autumn migration. http://dx.doi.org/10.1642/AUK-15-160.1
This article summarizes migration patterns and stopover variables that influence the specie which is especially interesting as it provides "some of the first information on the temporal pattern of arrival, arrival condition, stopover biology (FDR and stopover duration), and departure (flight range), as well as reporting on age- and sex-dependent effects."
ADDITIONAL SOURCES:
[Amy M. McKinney, Paul J. Cara Donna, David W. Inouye, Billy Barr, C. David Bertelsen, and Nickolas M. Waser 2012. Asynchronous changes in phenology of migrating Broad-tailed Hummingbirds and their early-season nectar resources. Ecology 93:1987–1993](http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/12-0255.1, http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?org=NSF&cntn_id=124345&preview=false)
Hummingbirds at Home: The Effects of Climate Change on Feeding Behavior. (n.d.). Audubon
Jason R. Courter, Ron J. Johnson, William C. Bridges, and Kenneth G. Hubbard. Assessing Migration of Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris) at Broad Spatial and Temporal Scales. The Auk 2013 130 (1), 107-117
Marland, K. (2012). The birds and the bees and the bats. American Forests
On Texada Island, Lafarge Park Commemorates Wildlife at Work Certification. (2016). Lafarge
The hummingbird project of BC. 2012. Rocky Point Bird Observatory
Hummingbird migration. (n.d.). The World of Hummingbirds
Rufous hummingbird. (2015). The Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Cornell University
Observations From Members