Research projects

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds Archilochus colubris Credit: Yanick Charette (Size: 98.49 kb)

How do they do it?

Two research projects on the Ruby-throated Hummingbird, led by Yanick Charette, under the supervision of Dr. Marc Bélisle, researcher and professor at the Université de Sherbrooke, are currently under way. The goal of the first is to understand how Ruby-throated Hummingbirds choose their nesting and feeding habitats and how they use their territory. This project will also identify the impacts, both positive and negative, of human activity on the survival of Ruby-throated Hummingbird populations.

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds Archilochus colubris Credit: Yanick Charette (Size: 85.11 kb)

Where do they go?

The other project will attempt to determine the various migration corridors used by Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, in Quebec and across North America. To do so, during the spring migration period, hundreds of hummingbirds are banded and marked with a colour (red, orange, blue, yellow, green or purple) on their breasts. Amateur bird-watchers throughout America are asked to report their observations of marked hummingbirds. With this feedback, the research group will perhaps be able to identify the routes used by hummingbirds to get to their reproductive areas.

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds Archilochus colubris Credit: Yanick Charette (Size: 97.27 kb)

And more

In the United States, thousands of hummingbirds are captured and banded in the same way. Thus, recaptures by banders from across North America help with the understanding of the various migration corridors followed by hummingbirds on a continental scale. These banding activities also permit an assessment of the number of fledglings raised in the reproductive season as well as the phenology of migration; in other words, hummingbird movement patterns over time. With time, we will be aware of migration trends for individual birds of various classes of sex and age.

For more information on Hummingbird research, consult the following Web sites: www.projetcolibris.org, hummingbirds.net/research.html.