Mike in the Wild

The first of July is Rufous Hummingbird Day at my cabin in Prescott.  Like most years, that was the day this summer when I saw the first one of the season perching in the alligator juniper tree adjacent to my deck.  By the end of the week, that or some other male rufous had unsurprisingly supplanted a male Anna's as the new owner of my yard's hummingbird feeder.   Anna's hummingbirds can reside year-round in Prescott, many surviving winter's sub-zero temperatures and snowstorms.  To help them out during the arrival of the dominant rufouses, I installed a second sugar water feeder in my yard as soon I discovered the migrants.  Alas within a few days, another male rufous took control of that supply of nectar also.  Any Anna's imbibed only by daring occasional, furtive sips.   Before the arrival of the rufous, I began spotting an occasional black-chinned hummingbird at the feeder.  This bird is a summer visitor to the higher elevations of A...

By this point in July, I thought I'd be sitting under the wide eaves over my deck in Prescott enjoying the afternoon rainstorms that accompany the summer monsoon.  But so far the weather is unusually hot and dry, more June than July-like.  In fact with heavy showers in May, that month was more winter-like.  However, the arrival of rufous hummingbirds at my feeders on July 1st reminded me that some things in nature might still remain predictable. Rufous hummingbirds migrate north from Mexico in the spring, following a mostly coastal route to the Pacific Northwest.  Some birds even travel as far as southeast Alaska to mate and nest.  His work accomplished, the male of the species starts his migration home through the Rocky Mountain states, leaving the female to rear the young on her own.  It's these absentee fathers I've started seeing in Prescott.  Later in the summer and after the males have left, the females and juveniles begin their own migrations....

July brought the first rufous hummingbirds to my Prescott cabin.  Usually they arrive amidst the commotions of the first monsoon storms, right at the beginning of July.  However the early rains of June seemed to confuse the birds' arrivals, postponing them until later in the month.  Nevertheless, robust males eventually pushed the dominant Anna's hummingbirds out of my yard and away from my sugar water feeders for part of the summer. By August, juveniles and females started arriving and the males began leaving the area, continuing their migrations south.  These late arrivals kept on mostly winning the battles against the Anna's - but not against any lingering rufous males - for total domination of the feeders.   As September welcomed autumn this week, the late arrivals mostly decamped.  A few cold weather-tolerant stragglers still remained, stealing a sip from the sugar water or a wildflower.  The next time I visit Prescott in early October, the f...

Barbecues, parades and fireworks are the quintessential elements of Fourth of July celebrations across the United States.  Unfortunately COVID-19 put a damper on the festivities in many communities this year, including in Prescott, Arizona, my summer home.  But an especially colorful sign of the holiday was on display: the rufous hummingbird.  I can't be exactly sure when these migratory birds first appeared in Yavapai County, but I do know that there were some reports of their appearances in the Flagstaff area at the end of June.  So I wasn't surprised when I caught my first glimpse of the rufous hummingbird in my tree-filled yard over the holiday weekend.  It was at the nectar feeder outside my living room window where I first saw the mature male.  His attempts at stealing some drinks were rebuffed by a resident male Anna's who had claimed the feeder in the spring shortly after I filled it.  Two years ago a rufous actually won the dogfights that ...

July in Prescott saw over six inches of summer monsoon rainfall - a much needed relief from June's brutally hot and dry conditions.  This weather phenomena repeats like clockwork and heralds not only a burst of colorful wildflowers and seasonal creeks but the reappearance of the rufous hummingbird. This bird passes through the Mountain States after breeding in the Pacific Northwest in the very early summer.  By late July many of the feeders in the Prescott area are dominated by the copper colored visitors, having pushed out most of the resident Anna's hummingbirds during their stays.  But by the end of the summer, most of the interlopers have moved on to their winter residences in Mexico and Latin America.   Like all migratory birds, they're extremely wary and distrusting of mankind.  And like all hummingbirds, they're fiercely territorial, not even sharing an area with members of their own species.  With patience and luck, I was able to get severa...

After an exceptionally warm autumn, it's starting to look like a normal winter in the Arizona desert, with occasional rainfall and cool temperatures.  Snowbirds - both human and avian - from the chilly northern climates of the continent are making their annual visits.   One quite unique visitor this season is a juvenile male rufous hummingbird that's been spotted frequently at Phoenix' Desert Botanical Garden. Rufous hummingbirds travel as far north as Alaska to mate and raise their young.  Typically they travel north from Mexico through California in late spring, breeding in early summer somewhere in the Pacific Northwest, and then migrating back to Mexico via the Rocky Mountains starting later in the summer.   It's on this return flight that they visit the mountains and deserts of Arizona While it's not unprecedented, it's rare for one to pick the Sonora Desert for a winter sojourn versus its normal residence in southern Mexico.  Whatever the rea...

Hummingbirds may be one of the most amazing birds in the avian family, with their diminutive size and bright array of colors.  Many of the species migrate long distances, wintering in Latin America and breeding early in the summer in North America. The rufous hummingbird is typical of this behavior, traveling as far north as Alaska to mate and raise their young.  Typically he will travel north through California in late Spring, breeding in early summer somewhere in the Pacific Northwest, and migrating back to Mexico via the Rocky Mountains later in the summer.   For the second year in the row, I've documented at least a few stopping in the Prescott, Arizona area for several weeks during their long journey south. During their sojourn I've witnessed one of their most famous characteristics - they are the feistiest bird in the family.  While Anna's hummingbird call northern Arizona home most of the year, they are easily chased away from feeders and established terri...