Chart 7:
FOREIGN SIGHTINGS of COLOR-MARKED
RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRDS

CHART 7: A Ruby-throated Hummingbird banded at Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History near York, South Carolina USA was color-marked with GREEN dye on its upper breast and throat; it was seen at a feeder by Judy Fruge in Cameron, Louisiana on 19-21 Sep 1977. This is the furthest distance ever for a sighting of a color-marked hummingbird. The bird was not captured so the band number could be read, but a band was seen on the bird's right leg, indicating it was a female. All female RTHU banded at Hilton Pond Center get bands on their right legs; males are banded on the left.

Other distant sightings of color-marked RTHU include:

--One seen at Loganville, Georgia (near Atlanta) and then retrapped by Bob Sargent on 6 Oct 1991. This hatch-year male had been banded ten days earlier on 26 Sep at Hilton Pond Center, 270 miles to the northeast (see Chart 6).

--One seen at Robertsdale, Alabama (near Mobile) and later retrapped by Fred Bassett on 20 Oct 2000. This hatch-year female had been banded 17 days earlier on 3 Oct at Hilton Pond Center, 485 miles to the northeast.

--One observed (but not confirmed) at a feeder east of Charlotte, North Carolina USA in Sep 1999.

It is worth noting that all the above sightings occurred during fall migration.