Rufous hummingbirds (Selasphorus rufus) late by 2 weeks, then gone

Observation: Rufous hummingbirds usually show up with first Salmon Berry flowers and then stay all summer. We often saw 4 or more at our feeder at any one time. This year one showed up late by 2 weeks. Saw it for 2 days and then it disappeared. Had one sighting May 12th. And that's all. There are no hummingbirds this year for the first time in decades. - John Disney, Economic Development Officer, Masset, Haida Gwaii.

LEO BC Coordinator Comment: Rufus Hummingbirds (Selasphorus rufus) breed further north than any other hummingbird. Given the consecutive years of record warm air temperatures, particularly in Alaska and parts of BC, the summer breeding range of Rufus Hummingbirds may well have shifted further north toward Alaska from this Haida Gwaii location, and from other central BC locations. Their known distribution would lend credence to this hypothesis. Ann Nightingale, co-president of the non-profit Rocky Point Bird Observatory made similar observations of decreases in Rufus Hummingbirds in 2012 on the Saanich Peninsula of Southern Vancouver Island, and attributed the decrease to climate change (McCulloch 2012). Masset, Haida Gwaii is about 750 km north of Central Saanich. The lack of individuals in the spring of 2017 near Masset could represent temporal variability, but Mr. Disney has a long time-series of observational knowledge of this species, suggesting that this observation does indeed reflect a truly novel change in that area. - Tom Okey, PhD., Ocean Integrity Research and UVic Environmental Studies.

Resources:

The Rufous Hummingbird on Wikipedia

The Rufous Hummingbird on All About Birds

References:

McCulloch, S. 2012. Bird experts aflutter over drop in rufous hummingbird numbers. The Victoria Times Colonist 16 Aug 2012.

BirdLife International (2012). "Selasphorus rufus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.

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