Hummingbird Messenger

 March 2023

Male Anna's in Flight - By Hilary Joy Morejon - Hummingbirds by Joy

Ruby Festival Sponsor for the 2023 Sedona Hummingbird Festival

Our sincerest gratitude to the Northern Arizona Audubon Society for their generosity in helping the 2023 Sedona Hummingbird Festival be a success with a $500 donation! Click on their logo to check out their website.

Many folks don't realize what goes into creating a successful festival. It is no easy feat to create this event. Planning takes place towards the end of each year and gains momentum until its show time! There are many moving parts that go on behind the scenes. We look for presenters who have impressive backgrounds and we pay them for their expertise, we look for only the best in the way of high quality products and art in our exhibitors, we invite top tier paid hummingbird banders from out of state, scout out multiple breathtaking hummingbird gardens, schedule early morning expertly guided birding tours with the Northern Arizona Audubon Society, and host an elegant banquet at Poco Diablo Resort with music, flowers, and delicious food. We also pay to have special attractions such as, Happy the Hummingbird Spirit, face painting, wildlife rehabilitator with live birds of prey.

We create a relationship with our lodging partners in the community to accommodate our presenters and banders during their stay at the festival. Each year we renew our stay at the Sedona Performing Arts Center (SPAC), find food and concessions for our attendees, as well as advertising and marketing for the festival.

All of these tasks come at a cost. We are a nonprofit and are able to put on such a magical experience for everyone because of your generous donations. We would love to continue this legacy and bring like-minded hummingbird lovers together to share in this experience year after year!

We need your help to make this possible! Your donations to the festival and The International Hummingbird Society are invaluable! Don't forget, we also would welcome any hummingbird related items for the raffle table at this year's festival! You can send them to our address at: 6560 SR 179 Ste, 124 Sedona, AZ 86351.

We all thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

Calendar Spaces are available for the 2024 calendar. We hope to have it published in time for the this festival! For a contribution of $250, dedicated spaces are available for loved ones, in memory or in honor, kudos to the society,

or a tribute to your favorite hummingbird. Email us at info@hummingbirdsociety.org for inquiries.

Picture of baby hummingbirds by - Hilary Morejon - Hummingbirds by Joy

Two babies have emerged! Mama hummingbird is doing great with keeping them warm and fed. We are so excited for them to start to grow, eventually learn to fly, and fend for themselves! Can't get over how tall this nest is and how cozy those babies must be!

Marvelous Spatuletail Image courtesy of - Max Waugh

___Since 2004, American Bird Conservancy and its partner Asociación Ecosistemas Andinos (ECOAN) have been working in the Amazonas region of northern Peru to protect threatened bird species through land protection and habitat restoration. They have restored over 2,000 acres through the planting of over 1.3 million trees to benefit resident species and overwintering neotropical migrants, restoring both native forests and creating agricultural landscapes that are friendly to birds and local livelihoods.

___The existing Huembo Reserve is a 95-acre easement established specifically to protect a small, but important, population of the Endangered Marvelous Spatuletail, arguably the world’s most spectacular hummingbird. They are constantly on the lookout for new opportunities to protect species that are poorly represented in protected areas, and such an opportunity exists now in the Comunidad Campesina de Cuispes where the community has expressed an interest in protecting 1,100 acres in the headwaters of the spectacular Yumbilla (2,938 feet, world’s fifth tallest) and Chinata (1,914 feet) waterfalls. This is an important tract of habitat for the Marvelous Spatuletail which is restricted to the eastern slopes of the Utcubamba River valley and numbers fewer than 1,000 individuals. If protected, this would constitute the largest area of protected habitat for the species.

___The mechanism for protection will be the creation of a Private Conservation Area (PCA), which will be owned and managed by the community. ECOAN will work with the community to host a series of workshops to socialize the concept of the protected area and the community’s responsibilities and assist the community in preparing the necessary documents to secure recognition of the site as a protected area by the Servicio Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas por el Estado (SERNANP), the federal agency in charge of the nation’s protected areas. Once it is designated as a PCA, it will become a part of the national system of protected areas. ECOAN will be in a position to initiate this process in Cuispes in the first half of 2023. It will require three years to obtain the decree from SERNANP.

Please, consider helping us with a year-end donation towards this endeavor.