HUMMINGBIRDS of NEW MEXICO

A Non-Profit Organization Dedicated to the Study & Preservation of Hummingbirds in the State of New Mexico
HBNM HC 68, Box 169 Silver City NM 88061-9311
EMAIL: hbnm@gilanet.com

New Mexico’s location within a major southern migration route for hummingbirds makes it a great place to see these tiny birds. NM is host to many species of hummingbirds during the spring, summer & fall months. Hummingbirds have also been found to over-winter in New Mexico as far north in the state as Placitas, north of Albuquerque. There have been encounters of 18 separate species of hummingbirds within NM. Very few states are able to claim this abundance in hummingbird population size or the species diversity in hummingbirds as is New Mexico.

Joan Day-Martin is one of approximately 150 people in the world to possess a hummingbird banding permit issued by the Federal Department of the Interior allowing her to capture and band these small birds.

She is also licensed by the United States Fish & Wildlife Department and the New Mexico State Game & Fish Department. Joan’s work with NM hummingbirds has included obtaining pollen samples for a study being compiled by The Sonora-Desert Museum in Tucson AZ. She collected samples from the southern bound population of Rufous Hummingbirds as they passed through New Mexico, mid way in their journey from as far away as Alaska. photo by: George E. Martin

Since 1994 Joan has banded over 13,000 hummingbirds in NM. She added the 500th species to the NM Bird List with the Allen’s Hummingbird. East of Albuquerque, Joan encountered a foreign banded hummingbird in the Manzanita Mountains 6 weeks after it was banded on Vancouver Island in British Colombia. Joan documented the furthest northern occurrences of White-eared and Costa’s Hummingbirds in the state of New Mexico. photo by: George E. Martin

Currently Joan is involved with a study through The University of Arkansas collecting small samples of feathers from the hummingbirds she bands for DNA and Isotope analysis.

When Joan is not banding hummingbirds, she shares her knowledge gained through her work with both the scientific community and the general public. She gives educational presentations to a variety of groups, schools and communities sharing her enthusiasm with many. She also opens her HBNM home-base at Lake Roberts and has designated weekends for the public to join her as she works banding hummingbirds. The first "Backyard Hummingbird Festival" in 2004 is now an annual event at Lake Roberts. Memberships and donations to HUMMINGBIRDS of NEW MEXICO are Joan’s only source of funding and help to provide the equipment necessary to carry out the important work with these small New Mexico pollinators. Please join Joan in her effort to ensure the future of these wonderful magical avian jewels that we may continue to be graced with their existence in our world. photo by: Celestyn Brozek