Travel Opportunities For Citizen Scientists To Study Hummingbirds In Costa Rica, Guatemala, Belize

Oct. 15, 2010 - PRLog -- YORK SC--Those energetic, fast-flying hummingbirds that entertained nature lovers all spring and summer across the eastern U.S. and southern Canada have essentially disappeared from backyard feeders, but nobody knows exactly where they've gone.

Finding out is one of the goals of Bill Hilton Jr., an educator-naturalist who's been studying hummingbirds for 27 years at his private nature preserve near York SC. Hilton is one of less than 200 people in the world authorized to capture hummingbirds and place tiny aluminum bands on their legs. And he's banded a lot of them--4,288 of them to be exact--at 11-acre Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History, home of "Operation RubyThroat: The Hummingbird Project."

"I band hummingbirds," Hilton said, "to learn things about them we wouldn't know otherwise, like how many there are, how long they live, and whether they return to the same Piedmont yards each summer to breed.

"Banding is also how we learn about hummingbird migration--where these hummingbirds go to spend the winter," Hilton said, "and that's when a big hummingbird mystery arises. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds I banded at Hilton Pond Center have shown up in migration near Atlanta, in Alabama, and in far western Louisiana, but of all the ruby-throats banded by all the banders in North America in the past century, not a single one of them has been reported from south of the Rio Grande River.

"We know in general 'our' ruby-throats are going to Mexico or Central America to spend the winter," Hilton said, "but without recaptures down there we can't know whether, say, North Carolinas hummers are going to Nicaragua and Pennsylvania's are going to Panama."

To answer this question and to learn about Ruby-throated Hummingbird behavior and habitat needs on the species' non-breeding grounds in the Neotropics, Hilton leads groups each winter to Costa Rica and Belize and, for the first time in 2011, to Guatemala. Hilton is the only scientist studying Ruby-thorated Hummingbirds on the other end of their migratory path. "Citizen scientist" volunteers that accompany him help underwrite his expeditions and serve as field assistants.

"These mid-winter trips," Hilton said, "are a terrific opportunity for non-scientists--teachers, backyard birdwatchers, and hummingbird enthusiasts alike--to make meaningful contributions to understanding one of our most common but least-understood backyard birds. Participants help set up nets and traps that allow us to capture and band hummingbirds and release them unharmed and also serve as scribes and observers. These volunteers are essential to my research success and are the main reason I've been able to band and observe and learn about nearly 800 ruby-throats in Central America since 2004."

"The hummingbird trips are easy-going," Hilton said with a smile, "so we have lots of free time to explore our various host countries. And we only work in warm tropical places where exotic animals and plants help us forget it's cold, wet, and nasty back in the U.S. There are ample opportunities for nature photography and visits to cultural sites, and we always appreciate great food, clean beds, and hot showers after a day in the field."

Some slots are still available for the three hummingbird expeditions scheduled for early 2011. They last nine days each and vary in cost. For dates, itineraries, and information about how to sign up, visit Hilton's Web site at www.hiltonpond.org and look for a link to the Neotropical trips. Debbie Sturdivant at Holbrook Travel handles logistics for Hilton's Central American trips and can answer questions at 866-748-6146. Because Hilton Pond Center is a non-profit education, research, and conservation organization, a significant portion of participant costs is tax-deductible.

Hilton said one of the most exciting results of his Neotropical work came in 2008 when a Ruby-throated Hummingbird he banded in western Costa Rica was found six months later just west of Savannah GA. Hilton said this was the first hummingbird of any species to be banded in the tropics and later encountered within its breeding range in North America. These and other ground-breaking hummingbird investigations were among factors that led Discover magazine in 2008 to name Hilton "one of 50 best brains in science."

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A non-profit education, research and conservation organization devoted to "conserving animals, plants, habitats, and other natural components of the U.S. Piedmont Region through observation, scientific study and education for students of all ages."