Alaska Hummingbird Festival
Where: Ketchikan
When: April 3-5
More Info: (907) 228-6220 or www.fs.fed.us/r10/tongass/districts/discoverycenter/humschedule.shtml

The Rufous hummingbird has the longest migration route of any hummingbird in the United States, flying from Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula to its breeding grounds along the Pacific Coast between Oregon and Alaska. Male Rufous hummingbirds begin arriving in Ketchikan in mid-March each year and are seen at feeders and flowers throughout the region by mid-April.

The Alaska Hummingbird Festival celebrates their return each spring with guided bird hikes, an open spotting scope on Totem Bight State Park’s viewing deck, a juried art show of hummingbird-related pieces, a homemade hummingbird feeder display and competition, arts and crafts, activities for children, speakers and scientific presentations, and video presentations at the Natural History Association bookstore. There is even a do-it-yourself hummingbird banding station run by the U.S Forest Service.