On Thu, Dec 23, 2010 at 9:24 PM, Andrew Block <[email protected]> wrote:
> Had the Calliope Hummingbird today at about 3:15pm in Guilford, CT. It > was mostly sitting in the red cedar but also went to the feeder a few > times. It's amazing it's surviving in this arctic cold. > Not terribly surprising...Calliope and several of the other western hummingbird species like Selasphorus are quite cold tolerant naturally, given that they mostly breed at high elevations, and also due to the fact that they can slow their metabolism to save energy at night. As long as they're able to find some of the more cold-tolerant small insects (midges, gnats etc.) to supplement whatever nectar sources might still be around, they do quite well even at freezing, or below-freezing temperatures, unlike Ruby-throateds. Best, Scott -- Scott Haber Department of Ornithology American Museum of Natural History 79th St. at Central Park West New York, NY 10024 (212)-769-5788 Email: [email protected] -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
