San Pedro River~Letterboxing

Today we drove down to Sierra Vista to visit the San Pedro River Riparian area, do some hiking for a letterbox, which we found on a hiking trail beside the San Pedro River (Yay!), and learn more about hummingbirds by watching the experts catch, band, study and release these little 'jewels of the sky'.

We weren't disappointed.

It was a wonderfully cloudy day with temps in the upper 80's, perfect for a cooler hike.
The first hummer caught was just a 2-3 month old baby, weighing about the same as a penny! Sherri showed us how to tell it's age (by the coloring, ridges on the beak, and absence of molting) and sex (shape of tail feather~male is pointed rather than rounded, along with a mature bird's coloring)
Then the hummer was banded. Many hummingbirds come back to the same place year after year. Banding is a terrific way to keep track of birds.
A volunteer records all of each bird's specific information.
Each hummingbird is weighed in a brilliant handmade contraption that allows the bird to hang safely in a little piece of mesh fabric
An adult Black Chin Hummingbird held before being released
A baby black chin hummer just before being released.
We learned so many fascinating facts about hummingbirds today.
This amazing hummingbird trap was built by the volunteers and uses batteries and a remote control to cause the mesh to drop down over a feeding hummingbird. It's really quite brilliant.