Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, photos, and additional information follow below.
All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 9-11-15.
TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO
From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is
Virginia Water Radio for the week of September 14, 2015.
This week, we feature a fast- and far-flying mystery sound. Have a listen for about 15 seconds, and see
if you can guess what small but energetic bird makes these sounds. And here’s a hint: in this case, just hum if
you DO know the words.
SOUNDS - 16 sec
If you guessed a hummingbird, you’re right! Those were calls and wingbeat sounds from the
Ruby-throated Hummingbird, the only hummingbird species—out of about 15 species
in North America—that breeds in eastern North America and is commonly found in
Virginia. Hummingbirds get their name
from their rapid up-and-down wing beats—over 50 per second—that produce a humming
or buzzing sound and enable the birds to hover and to fly in quick darts
forward and backward. Hummingbirds are
the smallest North American birds; adult Ruby-throats, for example, are about
three inches long and weigh about three grams, or about one-tenth of an ounce. Despite this small size, twice every year many
Ruby-throats take on some really BIG water: about 500 miles across the Gulf of
Mexico during spring and fall migrations, with some birds making the crossing
in one flight. Ruby-throats feed on flower
nectar, insects, and sometimes tree sap, and they may double their body mass
with energy-rich fats prior to their long over-water migrations. Gram for gram, Ruby-throats and other
hummingbirds are some of nature's most efficient flying powerhouses.
Thanks to Lang Elliott for permission to use
this week’s sounds, from the Stokes Field
Guide to Bird Songs. And we close with
a few seconds of another hummingbird recording, this time from the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service.
SOUND - ~ 7 sec
For more Virginia water sounds, music, and information, visit
us online at virginiawaterradio.org,
or call us at (540) 231-5463. Virginia
Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part
of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment. Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo
version of Cripple Creek to open and close the show. In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health,
wisdom, and good water.
AUDIO NOTES AND
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The first sounds of the Ruby-throated Hummingbird were taken
from the Stokes Field Guide to
Bird Songs—Eastern Region CD set, by Lang Elliott with Donald and Lillian
Stokes (Time Warner Audio Books, copyright 1997), used with permission of Lang
Elliott, whose work is available online at http://www.langelliott.com/ and the “Music of Nature” Web site, http://www.musicofnature.org/.
The closing
hummingbird sounds were taken from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife National
Digital Library (http://digitalmedia.fws.gov/cdm/),
accessed at http://digitalmedia.fws.gov/cdm/singleitem/collection/audio/id/33/rec/1.
PHOTOS
Ruby-throated hummingbird showing male’s bright red throat
(upper photo) and individual feeding on Cardinal Flower (lower photo). Photos made available for public use by the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service National Digital Library, accessed online at http://digitalmedia.fws.gov.
Ruby-throated Hummingbird feeding on Trumpet Creeper flower
(upper photo) and at a commercial feeder (lower photo). Photos by Robert Abraham of Christiansburg,
Va., used with permission.
EXTRA FACTS ABOUT HUMMINGBIRDS
One other species, the Rufous
Hummingbird, has been seen occasionally in some Virginia counties,
according to the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) (see
“Fish and Wildlife Information Service” Web site, taxonomy chapter for Rufous
Hummingbird, online at http://vafwis.org/fwis/booklet.html?&bova=040219&Menu=_.Taxonomy&version=16689).
Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are a treat to see in flight, but
it’s fairly uncommon to spot their tiny
nests, which they place in trees several feet above ground. Here’s an interesting description of these
birds’ nests, from the VDGIF’s Fish and Wildlife Information Service entry on
the Ruby-throated Hummingbird (“Life History”), online at http://vafwis.org/fwis/booklet.html?Menu=_.Life+History&bova=040218&version=16689:
“[The] nest is an exquisite cup less than 2 inches across of felted plants
ferns or dandelion seed down; covered with moss and lichens and fastened with
spider webs; lined with layers of down....”
SOURCES
Used in Audio
Bjorn Carey, “Hummingbirds vs. helicopters: Stanford
engineers compare flight dynamics,” Stanford
[University] News, July 30, 2014, online at http://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/july/birds-versus-bots-073014.html.
Cornell University
Lab of Ornithology and American Ornithologists’ Union, “Birds of North America
Online,” online at http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna (subscription required).
Chandler S. Robbins et
al., A Guide to Field Identification
of Birds of North America, St. Martin’s Press, New York, 2001.
Virginia Department of Game and Inland (VDGIF)/Fish and
Wildlife Information Service, “Ruby-throated Hummingbird,” online at http://vafwis.org/fwis/booklet.html?&bova=040218&Menu=_.Taxonomy&version=16689.
Joel C. Welty, The
Life of Birds [on fat stores for migration, p. 485; large keel and up/down
strokes for hovering, p. 62].
For More Information about Hummingbirds
Carol Heiser, “Hummingbird ‘Tidbits,’ Virginia Department of
Game and Inland Fisheries, online at http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/habitat/hummingbirds.asp.
The Hummingbird Society, non-profit organization
headquartered in Arizona, online at http://www.hummingbirdsociety.org/index.php.
National Geographic Society, “Hummingbirds,” 2 min./10 sec.
video, online at http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/hummingbirds.
The Virginia Society of Ornithology is a non-profit
organization dedicated to the study, conservation, and enjoyment of birds in
the Commonwealth. The Society’s Web site
is www.virginiabirds.net.
E-bird Web site
at http://ebird.org/content/ebird/, maintained by the Cornell Lab and
the Audubon Society. Here you can find
locations of species observations made by contributors, and you can sign up to
contribute your own observations.
RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES
The following episodes also focus on bird migration or
seasonal habitat patterns:
Fall migratory birds
| EP183 – 10/14/13
Summer birds | EP118
– 7/9/12
Winter birds | EP150
– 2/25/13
More episodes on birds are listed in the “Birds” category at
the Index link, http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html.
SOLS INFORMATION FOR
VIRGINIA TEACHERS
This episode may help with the following Virginia’s 2010 Science
Standards of Learning (SOLs):
Grades K-6 Earth
Resources Theme
4.9 - Va. natural resources, including watersheds, water
resources, and organisms.
Grades K-6 Life
Processes Theme
1.5 - animals’ basic needs and distinguishing
characteristics.
2.4 - life cycles.
3.4 - behavioral and physiological adaptations.
Grades K-6 Living
Systems Theme
2.5 - living things as part of a system, including habitats.
3.5 - food webs.
3.6 - ecosystems, communities, populations, shared
resources.
5.5 - organism features and classification.
Life Science Course
LS. 4 - organisms’ features and classification.
LS.6 - ecosystem interactions, including cycles and energy
flow.
LS.8 - community and population interactions, including food
webs, niches, symbiotic relationships.
LS.9 - adaptations for particular ecosystems’ biotic and
abiotic factors.
Biology Course
BIO.8 - dynamic equilibria and interactions within populations,
communities, and ecosystems; including nutrient cycling, succession, effects of
natural events and human activities, and analysis of the flora, fauna, and
microorganisms of Virginia ecosystems.
Virginia’s SOLs are available from the Virginia Department
of Education, online at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/.
