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WHP Executive Committee
Universidad Nacional Aut�noma de M�xico
Environment for the Americas
Migratory Species Coordinator
USFS, International Programs
Sarahy Contreras
Professor
Universidad de Guadalajara
Director, Emerging Programs and Partnerships Group
Point Blue Conservation Science
Regional Wildlife Ecologist
USFS, Pacific Southwest Region
USFS Committee
Cheryl Carrothers
USFS, Alaska Region
Barb Bresson
Avian Conservation Program
USFS, Pacific Northwest Region
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Western Hummingbird Partnership
The Western Hummingbird Partnership (WHP) is a collaborative approach to hummingbird research, conservation, and education. Working with partners in Canada, the United States, and Mexico, WHP strives to understand what hummingbirds need to survive in a changing world. Our newsletter will keep you up-to-date on the latest in hummingbird news. Thank you for joining us!
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Like Us on Facebook!
The Western Hummingbird Partnership is now on Facebook. Our goal is to increase our outreach via social media to engage a broad suite of hummingbird enthusiasts, from birdwatchers and those who feed hummingbirds to researchers and conservationists.
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Costa's and Xantu's Prefer Justicia
ProFaunaBaja is non-profit organization that works to conserve biodiversity and vulnerable ecosystems in Baja California Sur, Mexico. They received support from the Western Hummingbird Partnership to engage citizen scientists in observing hummingbirds, their behavior, and the plant species they use. The organization also hosted its first Hummingbird Festival to increase public awareness of hummingbirds and their conservation.
| Costa's Hummingbird breeds in the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts. |
Initial results showed that Costa's and Xantu's Hummingbirds prefer two flowering plants, Tacoma sp. and Justicia sp. Species of Tacoma are in the trumpet vine family (Bignoniacea) and sport trumpet-like yellow flowers. They are known to attract bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. Species of Justicia also produce trumpet-like flowers and are known as "chuparosa" in Spanish or "hummingbird", indicating their importance to this group of birds.
ProfaunaBaja will provide more results of their research. Visit their website at: www.profaunabaja.org
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Chenega Bay is the site of Rufous Hummingbird studies.
It is a 3,500 mile trip from Florida to Chenega Bay, Alaska, but some Rufous Hummingbirds are making this transnational journey twice each year to breed in the most northern state in the U.S. Kate and Andy McLaughlin have been operating the northernmost hummingbird banding station in North America and detected this long distance migrant in 2010. Kate has recently been partnering with the Cordova Ranger District on the Chugach National Forest to band and gather information on those Rufous Hummingbirds which travel to the eastern shores of Prince William Sound.
The Tongass National Forest also seeks to fill basic information gaps about breeding season chronology for Rufous Hummingbirds by establishing a banding program in Southeast Alaska. Feathers provided to Jonathan Moran of Royal Roads University in Canada showed that Rufous Hummingbirds from Juneau, Alaska winter in central Mexico and that males and females are found in different locations, segregating during the winter months.
In 2013, Gwen Baluss, a biological technician on the Juneau Ranger District, and a volunteer staff captured 40 adult males, 69 adult females, 17 hatch year males, and 12 hatch year females. Gwen and more volunteers are back at the research station this season and have already banded 76 Rufous Hummingbirds, whose data will provide us with more insights into the habits and migrations of this long-distance traveler. For more information, visit:
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