Date: 4/24/24 2:08 pm From: Alex Castelein via groups.io <alex.castelein...> Subject: [sbcobirding] New Calliope UCSB + Hummingbird Musings
Hi all,
I just had a new male Calliope on campus, this time in the bottlebrush row
by Student Health.
Obviously this is a pretty good year for them, but there’s 2 things that
confuse about it, if anyone has any insights:
1- I was under the impression that wet years like this one were worse for
Calliopes by the coast, because they have plenty of blooming flowers along
their usual migration routes. I’ve heard it suggested that the prolonged
cool weather is causing some effect (keeping blooms minimal and/or just
keeping the hummingbirds lower elevation where it’s warmer), which could
explain the good numbers of Rufous and Black-chinneds so far as well.
2- All reports I’ve seen that have a description or photos are of males.
Where are the females? Is it typical for us to get a very skewed ratio?
I’ve noticed a similar situation with Black-chinneds, with far fewer
reports of females. I’ve personally seen 5 males and only 1 female.
I’d love to hear any thoughts/hypotheses people have, especially from the
more experienced birders who’ve seen hummer migration play out many years
here.
The bottlebrushes/eucs also had several western tanagers and a nashville
warbler.
