A second decade of overwintering hummingbirds in Florida and Alabama

Abstract

For a second decade, from November 2008 to March 2018, we examined the species diversity, return rate, longevity, and migration routes of hummingbirds overwintering in southern Alabama and the panhandle, northern peninsula, and central peninsula of Florida. We captured and banded 11 species of hummingbirds (n= 1,870 individuals), including 931 Rufous Hummingbirds (Selasphorus rufus; 49%), 583 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris; 31%), 219 Black-chinned Hummingbirds (A. alexandri; 12%), 49 Buff-bellied Hummingbirds (Amazilia yucatanensis), 49 Calliope Hummingbirds (S. calliope), 19 Allen's Hummingbirds (S. sasin), 11 Broad-tailed Hummingbirds (S. platycercus), 6 Broad-billed Hummingbirds (Cynanthus latriostris), 1 Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna), 1 Costa's Hummingbird (Calypte costae), and 1 White-eared Hummingbird (Hylocharis leucotis). Site fidelity was high, with 299 hummingbirds of 5 species returning at least once. Two Rufous Hummingbirds migrated to our study area in the autumn from the West (Oklahoma and Texas). One Ruby-throated Hummingbird banded in Lakeland, Florida, was recovered in Utopia, New Brunswick, Canada, suggesting the overwintering Ruby-throated Hummingbirds in our study area are migratory and not sedentary.