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IBO’s Team Hummingbird authors two new studies!

a map of the state of Idaho is shaded pink to show areas with the most Anna's Hummingbirds. A painting of a male Anna's Hummingbird accompanies the map.
Figure by Bryce Robinson

If you live in Idaho, you may have noticed a new winter visitor in your yard – especially if you’ve kept a heated hummingbird feeder up!

The Anna’s Hummingbird is an intriguing species that IBO’s Team Hummingbird has studied since 2015. We recently published two papers in the journal Western Birds titled “First documentation of successful breeding for the Anna’s Hummingbird in Idaho” and “Monitoring through community science: Anna’s Hummingbird winter range expansion into Idaho.”

IBO’s Jessica Pollock, Heidi Ware Carlisle, and Heather Hayes co-authored these papers along with Cornell Graduate Student/scientific illustrator Bryce Robinson, and local community scientist Janice Engle.

Our paper on wintering Anna’s Hummingbirds in Idaho shows a sharp increase in numbers over the last decade, especially in Ada County.

Our second note documents the first Anna’s Hummingbird nest in the state! Will more nests follow as their numbers continue to increase?

We couldn’t have done it without all the community reports from folks like YOU contacting us about your wintering hummingbirds. Thank you team and everyone!!

a photo of a female Anna's hummingbird sitting on her nest with two nearly full grown chicks inside. the figure caption reads: "Figure 1. Adult female Anna's Hummingbird attending two nestlings in Southeast Boise, Idaho. 14 July 2020. This photograph represents the first documentation of nesting in Idaho. Photo by Janice Engle

You can read more about the project on our Anna’s Hummingbird page, or read the papers on our ResearchGate page.