The Hummingbird Roundup
The Hummingbird Roundup

Roundup Scheduled for
June 2, 2024

Scout Troop 118 will be holding a fundraiser at this year’s event. They will be selling cinnamon rolls, drinks, and hummingbird swag including pins, hats, and photos.

What is the Hummingbird Roundup?

The hummingbird roundup is a free educational event, open to the public. At the roundup we will demonstrate how researchers identify, handle, and band hummingbirds.

Few things are as stunning as a hummingbird in flight. The opportunity to see these animals up close is an intimate experience. Since 2003, we have been researching aspects of hummingbird biology by banding the hummingbirds at the Rudeen Ranch, in Power County, Idaho.

Those lucky enough to help us release the banded birds will never forget the experience!

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Check us out in the episode Birders, Banders, and Binoculars on Outdoor Idaho!

“There are some who can live without wild things and some who cannot.”
— Aldo Leopold
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How the Hummingbird Roundup Began

In 2003 Stacy Jon Peterson contacted ranch owners Kent and Francine Rudeen after hearing that their home was a hummingbird haven.

Stacy's first trip yielded 123 birds.  
We now band as many as 500 new birds and recapture up to 200 returning birds each year.

The story continues...

Since that first foray to the Rudeen Ranch, the hummingbird banding team have returned each spring to research hummingbirds in the high desert mountains of southeast Idaho.

The research conducted at this site and others has produced incites into hummingbird lifespan, reproduction rates, survival, distribution, hybridization, and migration. 

Our long-term dataset is providing information useful in the conservation of these wonderous birds!

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2022 Roundup Results:

Here's the tally:
158 newly banded birds, 169 returning birds (banded in past years) =
327 total hummingbirds banded
Grand Total of new birds banded and returning birds from
2003 to 2022 = 7,988!

AHY=After Hatch Year; ASY=After Second Year; ATY=After Third Year...
We describe birds by using the terms "After Hatch Year" etc. because unless you catch a bird as a hatchling, you don't know how old it is. Adult Hummingbirds can only be aged by looking up the year they were originally banded. Newly banded adults are AHY.

Our oldest bird to date is a Black-chinned Male, N-57688. He was captured in August 2004 as an AHY. We subsequently recaptured him in 2005, 2007, 2009, 2013, & 2014! The July 2014 recapture makes him an A11Y hummingbird!

CAHU=Calliope Hummingbird; BTLH=Broad-tailed Hummingbird; BCHU=Black-chinned Hummingbird;HYHU=Hybrid Hummingbird; ANHU=Anna's Hummingbird; RUHU=Rufous Hummingbird

Percentage of each species caught each year.