This year's winter hummingbird season is getting interesting! Julia and Karen have already been very busy with banding appointments all over North Georgia the past few weeks. Lots of new reports are coming in, with some hummers returning for their second winter. One very special female Rufous Hummingbird has returned for her SIXTH winter in Eatonton. Wow!

The two rarest birds were both at the homes of Bird Watcher customers! On November 18th, Karen banded a hatching year male Calliope Hummingbird at the home of Bob and Deb Zaremba in Marietta. And on November 20th, Julia banded a hatching year female Broad-tailed Hummingbird at the home of Suzanne Boesl in Kennesaw. Both of these are "review species", which means they must be properly documented in order to be accepted! And something for potential hummer hosts to think about - both yards were full of late-blooming, hummingbird attracting flowers like Pineapple Sage, Black-and-blue Salvia, Shrimp Plant, Agastache, Cigar Plant and more, in addition to hummingbird feeders.

Broad-tailed Hummingbird

Did you know that twelve species of hummingbirds have been documented wintering in Georgia? Ruby-throated, Rufous, Black-chinned, Broad-tailed, Allen's, Anna's, Calliope, Broad-billed, Magnificent, Buff-bellied, Green Violetear and Green-breasted Mango accounts have all been accepted by the Georgia Ornithological Society's Checklist and Records Committee thanks to banding efforts and the people who maintain hummingbird feeders all year long, don't give up when they haven't seen anything in a few weeks, and report any hummingbirds between November and March. A big "thank you" to all you guys!

What will our next hummingbird species be? Will it be Costa's? Blue-throated? Or Plain-capped Starthroat? You just never know what might turn up. If you'd like to keep up with winter hummingbird happenings, please visit and "like" the Georgia Hummers Facebook page!