Hummingbird Spring Migration 2021
Sorry, I'm way late on posting this. Thanks to Arlene Levin for the reminder. They've been sighted in New England!
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For years I've been posting screenshots of the migration map that's posted on hummingbirds.net but that map has now been discontinued. The producer of the map has given the following explanation:
"Google has stopped offering free, anonymous use of its map API, which partially automated the location of sightings by zip/postal code using a utility a smart fellow wrote for me (and which I do not understand). I am not interested in fundraising, learning API programming, or opening a Google developer account. As a result, producing this map is no longer practical, and I'm not looking for alternatives. Thanks to all of you for your participation and support over 23 migration seasons, and my apologies for any inconvenience.
If you want to know when migrants will reach your location, the historical maps are still available for reference. I encourage you to follow the migration and report your sightings at the Journey North website."
This was a wonderful endeavor and I'm so sorry it can't continue for reasons outside of her control.
I'll be posting screenshots of the Journey North Ruby-throated Hummingbird Migration Map.
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Screenshot April 6, 2021
The two New England sightings are in Danielson, CT and Hyannis, MA.
Sorry for the very late post.
Claire
Comments (62)
claireplymouth z6b coastal MA
3 years agoScreenshot 4/21/21
More sightings in New England, including one in Plymouth (not mine).Warm today with SSW winds, This could be a trap since the temperature is expected to plummet to close to freezing tonight and tomorrow night with daytime temperatures chilly.
Claire
claireplymouth z6b coastal MA
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoScreenshot April 22, 2021
Chilly Earth Day today. I hope the hummers are hunkering down in sheltered areas and not trying to fly anywhere.Claire
Related Discussions
Spring 2011 Migration of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds
Comments (4)I've seen a few over the past few days, drinking from my new salvias. This is the earliest I've ever seen them (although according to the map, they've been here for a month already!)...See MoreHummingbird Spring Migration 2013
Comments (150)Yep, this is prime migration time. According to hummingbirds.net in the Migration Basics section: "Some adult males start migrating south as early as mid-July, but the peak of southward migration for this species is late August and early September. By mid-September, essentially all of the Ruby-throated at feeders are migrating through from farther north, and not the same individuals seen in the summer." You still should keep your feeder filled for a while - there may be some late migrants coming through your yard and they'll be really hungry. Claire...See MoreHummingbird Spring Migration 2009
Comments (75)My hummers disappeared for a while, presumably nesting and concentrating on insects for the babies, although they may also have been nectaring on the rhododendron mountains up the street. Now they're back, and I see them every day at the feeder. They don't stay at the feeder for long, they just take a few sips and zip off to the flowers. The meadow phlox are blooming now and the hummers love them. Re orioles: There are myriad ways of feeding oranges and jelly; you can buy fancy feeders but they're not necessary. One easy way is to hang an orange half from a hook, or impale it on a stick. The bird will eat out the orange flesh, then you can fill the empty rind with grape or other jelly. You can also put jelly in a bowl on a deck railing. I've put orange slices in a wire suet feeder and the orioles were happy. Catbirds like the oranges and jelly too. I have photos of different methods I've tried, but I'm hesitant to slow up this thread. Claire...See MoreHummingbird Spring Migration 2011
Comments (51)Ah, that's dedication, pixie_lou, keeping a feeder filled for at least two months without seeing a hummer! I hope the logjam is over and they'll be regulars for you for the rest of the season. I'm glad your daughter got to see it. Here there was a long lull, probably busy nesting, but there's a respectable amount of traffic now with lots of territorial dogfights (birdfights?) Today a chickadee explored one of the hummer feeders and then actually perched on the top of my computer screen for a very short time. It's the first time a chickadee ever looked huge to me, at least compared to a hummingbird. Claire...See Moreclaireplymouth z6b coastal MA
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoScreenshot April 23, 2021
A couple of warm days ahead and then cooler with rain on Sunday.Enterprising hummers will probably be flying today.
Claire
claireplymouth z6b coastal MA
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoScreenshot April 24, 2021
There's a sighting in Stratham, NH so they're steadily heading north.I moved my feeder from the temporary hook to the permanent location. This entailed bumping some other feeders - the suet feeder moved and bumped the safflower feeder which is now out of direct sight. The next move will come when the orioles show up and need the jelly feeder on the hook that now holds the suet feeder.
The orioles usually arrive within a few days of the first hummer.
Cooler tomorrow with rain.
Claire
claireplymouth z6b coastal MA
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoScreenshot Hummingbirds April 25, 2021
I decided to check the oriole status and Journey North has a map of that too.Screenshot Baltimore Orioles April 25, 2021
Chilly with spotty rain this morning.Claire
Janet Campbell
2 years agoJanet Campbell
2 years agoclaireplymouth z6b coastal MA
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoBarrheadlass: Houzz is doing strange things lately. On another thread (Show us your Landscape Gardens) Donna Frost AKA defrost49 emerged.
Screenshot of Hummingbird Migration April 26, 2021
Screenshot of Baltimore Oriole Migration April 26, 2021
I'm expecting action any day now.Claire
deanna in ME Barely zone 6a, more like 5b
2 years agoclaireplymouth z6b coastal MA thanked deanna in ME Barely zone 6a, more like 5bclaireplymouth z6b coastal MA
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoScreenshot of Hummingbird Migration April 27, 2021
Screenshot of Baltimore Oriole Migration April 27, 2021
No hummers or orioles here yet.Claire
claireplymouth z6b coastal MA
2 years agoHummers sighted in Bremen, ME and Sanford, ME.
Screenshot of Hummingbird Migration April 28, 2021
Screenshot of Baltimore Oriole Migration April 28, 2021
Claire
corunum z6 CT
2 years agoBuddy's Back! 4-28-21 - earliest arrival for me. My neighbor 1/2 mile away had just texted me that a male hummer came to her feeder and lo, 20 minutes later, I saw this fellow on our feeder. :) So special. Of course, both cameras were on the wrong setting, but one has the date.
Jane
claireplymouth z6b coastal MA
2 years agocorunum z6 CT
2 years agoJanet Campbell
2 years agoclaireplymouth z6b coastal MA
2 years agodeanna in ME Barely zone 6a, more like 5b
2 years agoJanet Campbell
2 years agoclaireplymouth z6b coastal MA
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoScreenshots of Hummingbird Migration April 29, 2021
I don't vouch for accuracy of the map, Deanna, I just post what it tells me.
Screenshot of Baltimore Oriole Migration April 29, 2021
Claireclaireplymouth z6b coastal MA
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoScreenshot of Hummingbird Migration April 30, 2021
Screenshot of Baltimore Oriole Migration April 30, 2021
Clairecorunum z6 CT
2 years agoI'm not volunteering to create it, but it would be nice, I think, if there was one central website where people reported their hummingbird sightings. It would coordinate the numbers - similar to the Monarch Watch butterfly station in Kansas. I did look to see about hummers, but did not see any place, like Cornell, with a consolidation of sightings. The Hummingbird net fellow seemed to be the best coordinator when the man was able to maintain the website, alas... But I find it so worthwhile and a really nice thing to have you, Claire, maintain this post every year for us New Englanders. Carry on, fair maiden...with thanks.
claireplymouth z6b coastal MA thanked corunum z6 CTJanet Campbell
2 years agoclaireplymouth z6b coastal MA
2 years agoclaireplymouth z6b coastal MA
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoScreenshot of Hummingbird Migration May 1, 2021
Screenshot of Baltimore Oriole Migration May 1, 2021
Happy May Day all! I hope that the hummingbirds will come and dance around your feeder pole. They're ignoring mine although there have been multiple sightings in the Plymouth area.Claire
claireplymouth z6b coastal MA
2 years ago
prairiemoon2 z6b MA
2 years agoclaireplymouth z6b coastal MA
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoOne hummingbird sighted in Blue Hill, ME.
Screenshot of Hummingbird Migration May 2 2021
Screenshot of Baltimore Oriole Migration May 2, 2021
No hummers yet here, but I've seen Baltimore Orioles several times.Claire
Janet Campbell
2 years agoclaireplymouth z6b coastal MA
2 years agocorunum z6 CT
2 years agoJanet Campbell
2 years agoclaireplymouth z6b coastal MA
2 years agoclaireplymouth z6b coastal MA
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoThe hummers are in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
Screenshot of Hummingbird Migration May 3 2021
Orioles have made it to MaineScreenshot of Baltimore Oriole Migration May 3 2021
The hummer I saw yesterday was not here this morning, so he was probably a transient passing through.Claire
corunum z6 CT
2 years agodeanna in ME Barely zone 6a, more like 5b
2 years agonekobus
2 years agocorunum z6 CT
2 years agoIt's a bad but good picture, IMHO. Buddy was taking a bath in the rain after his supper last evening and this picture caught the light reflecting off the white feathers under his gorget. I think it's a layer of keratin that enables this type of light refraction, as it is for his red gorget, but seldom have I seen the white feathers shine. Two different cameras, same bird.
He was one mass of vibration wetting every feather in the rain. We got 1 3/8" - so grateful as I sowed a new meadow yesterday.
Jane
claireplymouth z6b coastal MA
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoGood news, Deanna and nekobus! Buddy looks spiffy with that necklace, Jane.
I saw a hummer again this morning near the big bleeding heart which is blooming.
Screenshot of Hummingbird Migration May 4, 2021
Screenshot of Baltimore Oriole Migration May 4, 2021
I'm seeing orioles every day now but the hummers may still be migrating through.Claire
silvergirl426_gw
2 years agoclaireplymouth z6b coastal MA
2 years ago
Sue W (CT zone 6a)
2 years agoclaireplymouth z6b coastal MA
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoclaireplymouth z6b coastal MA
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoScreenshot of Hummingbird Migration May 5, 2021
Screenshot of Baltimore Oriole Migration May 5, 2021
Claireclaireplymouth z6b coastal MA
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoScreenshot of Hummingbird Migration May 6, 2021
Screenshot of Baltimore Oriole Migration May 5, 2021
Claireclaireplymouth z6b coastal MA
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoScreenshot of Hummingbird Migration May 6, 2021
Screenshot of Baltimore Oriole Migration May 6, 2021
Claireclaireplymouth z6b coastal MA
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoScreenshot of Hummingbird Migration May 7, 2021
Screenshot of Baltimore Oriole Migration May 7, 2021
Clairecorunum z6 CT
2 years agoclaireplymouth z6b coastal MA
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoThanks, Jane, the hummingbird is indeed a gift.
Screenshot of Hummingbird Migration May 9, 2021
Screenshot of Baltimore Oriole Migration May 9, 2021
Clairecorunum z6 CT
2 years agohttp://www.rubythroat.org/RTHUAnatomyMain.html
More information than one probably needs or wants, but it's a good project.
Female hummingbirds are definitely here. She took one look at Buddy on the feeder and he zipped away. She immediately took over. She does ALL the work - he donates sperm and flies away - she builds the nest, lays the eggs, alone, she feeds the children through their fledging time. She makes about 100 trips a day to feed her children. I'm planting more flowers.
Jane
Arlene Levin