August Bird Walk Report: Banding Hummingbirds

Pictured is my son Kyle holding a Black-chinned Hummingbird right after Fred had banded it and taken metrics.

Special thanks to Michael Wiegand for hosting the Avimor Bird Walk and the public in general for the annual hummingbird banding at his home in Pearl, Idaho. Thanks to Fred Bassett for the hummingbird education.

40 to 50 people braved the morning drizzle to attend the event. I'll get the total banding count from Michael later, but we caught mostly Black-chinned Hummingbirds and a couple Rufous Hummingbirds.

Children as well as adults were amazed to feel their little heartbeat in our hands. One little Black-chinned was caught a total of 4 times this morning. I guess it liked being caught.

Other birds seen at the Wiegand residence included:

Bullock's Orioles
House Sparrows
Eastern Kingbird
House Finch
Ring-necked Pheasant
Mourning Doves
California Quail
Lark Sparrow

While driving on Pearl Road I also saw:

Western Tanager
Horned Larks
Western Meadowlarks
Swainson's Hawk
American Robin