Pollen Collections and the WHP Committee

Western Hummingbird Partnership Logo

WHP Website

WHP Executive Committee

John Alexander

Director

Klamath Bird Observatory

Maria del Coro Arizmendi

Professor

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

Susan Bonfield

Director

Environment for the Americas

Barb Bresson

Avian Conservation Program

USFS, Pacific Northwest Region

Greg Butcher

Migratory Species Coordinator

USFS, International Programs

Sarahy Contreras

Professor

Universidad de Guadalajara

Geoff Geupel

Director, Emerging Programs and Partnerships Group

Point Blue Conservation Science

Cheryl Carrothers

Wildlife Program Leader

USFS, Alaska Region

Western Hummingbird Partnership

Western Hummingbird Partnership (WHP) is a collaborative approach to hummingbird research, conservation, and education. Working with partners in Canada, the United States, and Mexico, WHP strives to understand what hummingbirds need to survive in a changing world. Our newsletter will keep you up-to-date on the latest in hummingbird news. Thank you for joining us!

Keep Up with WHP

Keep up with the latest in hummingbird news via Facebook or the WHP newsletter. Both are provided in English and Spanish. Find the Spanish version on our website: Spanish Newsletter

Greg Butcher, Cheryl Carothers, and Barbara Bresson, with the US Forest Service, Sarahy Contreras-Martinez (professor) with La Universidad de Guadalajara in Mexico, John Alexander (Director), Klamath Bird Observatory, and Susan Bonfield (Director) and Lily Calderón (Coordinator) of Environment for the Americas.

WHP Meets To Set 2017 Agenda

In early December, members of the Western Hummingbird Partnership (WHP) Advisory Committee met in Boulder, Colorado to set the goals and priorities for the coming year. Discussions included priority research needs, ways to better engage the public in gathering information about hummingbirds and in helping to conserve migratory species, and the impact of the WHP small grants program on our knowledge of migratory hummingbirds in the west.

Meet the Committee

Image of pollen slides.

Pollen Collections

Due to global climate change, scientists predict that hummingbirds will be greatly impacted by the mismatch of the timing of blooming flowers and hummingbird migration. To learn more about this potential threat, some hummingbirds banders are collecting pollen samples from the bills and heads of the hummingbirds they capture. The pollen may be used to identify the plants on which hummingbirds are foraging and helps us to understand the phenology of flowering and the species that hummingbirds are choosing. The information may be used to inform future plantings and restoration efforts.

Hummingbird banders at Capulin Volcano National Monument in northern New Mexico collect pollen samples. Their work has led to the development of a method for processing the pollen and to a guide to pollen and plants of the monument. The Western Hummingbird Partnership will be reviewing the available materials on pollen collection, processing, and identification to help provide the opportunity to contribute to this work. If you are a hummingbird bander and are interested in participating or participate already, please contact Lily Calderón at lcaldero

n@environm entamericas.org

WHP Website in Spanish

The Western Hummingbird Partnership website is now available in Spanish. Visit the site and explore the pages!

WHP Website

Western Hummingbird Partnership | sbbonfield@gmail.com | http://westernhummingbird.org
Environment for the Americas, 5171 Eldorado Springs Drive, Suite N, Boulder, CO 80303