Alabama Hummingbirds Close Up on Public TV

CLAY, ALA.--The visitors come calling like clockwork, beginning about this time of year. By the time fall comes around, Bob and Martha Sargent will be on intimate terms with nearly 800 of them.

The visitors are Ruby-throated Hummingbirds who stop by the Sargent’s backyard on their migrations between Central America and North America.

"A Bird in the Hand," a documentary on Alabama Public Television (APT), shows how the Sargents--and others they have meticulously trained--trap and band hummingbirds to learn about these fascinating, colorful creatures.

"A Bird in the Hand" airs at 7 p.m., Saturday, June 30, on APT as part of THE ALABAMA EXPERIENCE television series.

"It’s hard to imagine this tiny bird we’ve got in our hand could have hatched in Canada, here, or anywhere in between," says Bob Sargent. The birds are small but tough. An adult may weigh only one-tenth of an ounce--less than a penny--but makes two non-stop flights across the Gulf of Mexico to and from wintering in Central America.

The Sargents trap the birds by placing sugar water feeders in wire cages. When the hummers enter, a trap door falls. Banding the birds requires many hours of training and a federal permit, but the Sargents have trained dozens of others banders so the migratory patterns of the birds can be recorded.

"So, whatever natural history this bird would develop through its normal life can now be monitored if it is encountered again," says Sargent. The tiny metal band he crimps on the bird’s leg is clearly legible but incredibly light. It takes 5,500 of them to weigh one ounce.

It’s quite possible these birds will be encountered again. Hummingbirds often return to the same feeding stations year after year as if on schedule. Last summer the Sargents banded 800 hummingbirds in their backyard north of Birmingham.

"A Bird in The Hand" also shows the work the Hummer/Bird Study Group, a non-profit organization the Sargents started in 1994. Its 1700 members in 40 states are interested in all passerines--migratory songbirds--and some of them work as volunteers at Ft. Morgan, Ala., in April and October when the Sargents conduct a bird census. Long nets approximately six feet high are stretched among the scrappy pines and sand dunes just off the beach.

"This is a really great tool to study birds because you can interrupt their lives only briefly to study them as we do here and share them with you guys," Sargent tells one of the many groups of school children that come to see the wide variety of birds that are banded and measured.

"A Bird in the Hand" offers remarkable close-ups of these beautiful hummingbirds and information about their aggressive behavior, diet, and migratory patterns that might surprise even those who study hummers at backyard feeders. The program also includes information about flowers that can be planted that will attract the birds.

"A Bird in the Hand" is a production of the University of Alabama Center for Public Television and Radio. For more information contact Brent Davis at 205-348-8629 or brent@bama.ua.edu.