News

The 2020 Sedona Hummingbird Festival has been cancelled. IMPORTANT NEWS:     The Board of Directors has decided that the best course of action, in view of the uncertainties surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic, is to cancel our Sedona Hummingbird Festival this year.     This was not an easy decision, but the health of our attendees, members, volunteers and staff that would be participating in the Festival are our first priority. The financial risk to the Society is also unknowable and potentially catastrophic.    We hope you will plan to attend our 2021 Sedona Hummingbird Festival, scheduled for July 30 - August 1! Tickets...

Flitting through the mist in Ecuador’s high Andean forests, the Black-breasted Puffleg is running out of habitat. A forest restoration program offers hope, working with local people to plant the species’ favorite flowers. Birdlife International article

From Evolution © 2020 The Society for the Study of Evolution. Signal evolution and morphological complexity in hummingbirds  Chad M. Eliason, Rafael Maia, Juan L. Parra, Matthew D. Shawkey Hummingbirds are some of the most brightly-colored things in the entire world. Their iridescent feathers reflect light in a way that other birds can't match, and scientists weren't sure what made hummingbirds special. But a new study shows that while hummingbird feathers have the same basic makeup as other birds', the special shape of their pigment-containing structures enables them to reflect a rainbow of light. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/evo.13893

Counterfeit Alert: Beware! There are counterfeiters selling feeders that they claim are made by Aspects. The feeders look identical, but do not function identically. Be cautious when purchasing the feeder from Amazon as that is where the imitators are dropping their fraudulent product.  See How Amazon’s counterfeit problem reached a bird feeder manufacturer in Rhode Island

Those of you who are feeding their birds cane sugar/ sucrose may want to purchase a little extra. Sugar prices will surely be going up based on the USA/ China tariffs. Any sugar components sourced in China and used by USA sugar refiners will increase in price and you can bet that any domestically refined sugar will match the higher the higher tariff prices. I have not seen any reference to hummingbird feeders included in the tariffs. The United States Trade Representative released a list of everything that will be affected in the September 01 and December 15 tariffs These...