Bird Walks and the Rare Rufous Hummingbird

Jacob Potter, Ranger

At the Oak Glen Preserve, there have been 110 bird species observed by birders since the beginning of 2020. All of these bird species have their own distinct characteristics and behavior, from the gregarious acorn woodpeckers with clown-like faces, to the shy, quiet, black and white ring-necked ducks who spend their winters in the preserve’s ponds.

In April and May, we led bird walks with preserve visitors to highlight the diversity of birds in Oak Glen and tune visitors into the pulse of life expressed through their songs and colors. Many visitors on these walks had never been birding before or paid any attention to the birds. They were excited to learn more about them, especially about how hummingbirds are the only birds to fly backwards, doing so by dislocating their shoulders in order to create the right wing motion, or even how Stellar Jays often mimic other birds, such as hawks, to protect nests from encroaching animals.

On a cold and misty April day this year, we had the fortune of coming across a very uncommon bird that decided to have a brief layover at the preserve while on a very long migration. That day, in a garden venue called Hummingbird Hill that is filled with hummingbird-friendly plants, we saw a small, orange bird zipping from flowering bush to bush like an ember blowing in the wind. It was too quick to get a good look at it but at one point it started to feed on pink currant flowers several feet away, seeming not to mind our presence or the cold. Based on its solid orange back and red, iridescent throat we identified it as a male rufous hummingbird! We talked to the visitors about the characteristics of these birds--the orange of the males and the splashes of orange on the green and white females--and the extensive journey these tiny birds make. The visitors appreciated the opportunity to see the rufous and were happy they carried on in the damp weather.

As for the rufous’s migration, by the time this particular bird arrived in Oak Glen, he may have already traveled up to 1,000 miles, starting as far south as the high elevation pine forests of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt near Mexico City. In general, the route this species takes leads the birds by the sunny, tourist-jammed beaches of Mexico’s Pacific Coast and through the endless brown Sonoran desert. In California, they fly along the coast or inland along the fertile, flat Central Valley croplands. They end up in the pine and oak forests of Oregon and Washington and as far north as the dense conifer forests of British Columbia and southeastern Alaska. They spend the summer in this region breeding and nurturing their offspring. In total, the rufous hummingbird, which only weighs 3.4 grams, or about 1.5 pennies, may fly 4,000 miles during the spring migration, taking only a few months to do so. They head back to Mexico in the fall, making another 4,000 mile journey, this time along the Rocky Mountains. Each bird travels alone, following deep-set instinctual forces that inspire them to start migrating and guide them across a continent.

*Male Western Tanager (by Jacob McGinnis)*

Now, that particular rufous hummingbird we observed is probably searching for a mate somewhere in the forests one thousand miles or two to the north. But even though we won’t see the rufous hummingbirds again this year, there are still plenty of surprises at the preserve as other bird species from tropics of Mexico and Central America make their way to cooler, drier breeding grounds in the north on long, arduous migrations. Other migratory birds seen recently at the preserve include Bullock’s orioles, yellow warblers, Townsend’s warblers, black-headed grosbeaks, ash-throated flycatchers, and western tanagers, all of which stand out amongst the new, light green leaves of the oaks, willows and box elders in their bright, tropic plumage. These long-haul migrators add to the diversity of birds and life already at the preserve, including forty year-round resident birds and fifty birds local to the region. There is no telling what we may see on any given day. During my bird walks, we try to highlight this diversity and the characteristics of each species. But many times, we find it best to stand and watch the birds, and let the birds themselves demonstrate their own uniqueness.

Wildflower Walks