National Hummingbird Day Celebration

media release: National Hummingbird Day is Sept. 7, 2024, and Henry Vilas Zoo and SOS Save Our Songbirds are teaming up for a special day of discovery and fun dedicated to Wisconsin’s smallest bird.

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Flamingo Plaza on the south side of the zoo, SOS Save Our Songbirds will give away 400 tokens to kids for free carousel or train rides to celebrate and show off new window treatments installed on the carousel building. The treatments prevent hummingbirds and other birds from flying into the windows. Watch a video about the window treatments.

Kids and adults also can learn about hummingbirds and their important place as pollinators in their ecosystems. They can enjoy hands-on activities for the kids, learn how to care for them, and take home free supplies to help make homes hummingbird friendly!

“Hummingbirds weigh less than a nickel, their wings beat 60 to 80 times a second, and they’re the only bird that can fly backward! says Lisa Gaumnitz, SOS Save Our Songbirds coordinator.

“Join us on National Hummingbird Day to celebrate these amazing animals, see the new window treatments at the zoo carousel, and learn ways we can all help hummingbirds at home.”

Ruby-throated hummingbirds, the only hummingbird species commonly found in Wisconsin, are particularly vulnerable to colliding with windows. A 2014 study concluded they’re 175 times more likely to collide with windows than the average bird.    

In August, the zoo started installing window treatments on the carousel building to prevent such collisions. Volunteers for Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance’s Bird Collision Corps had identified the building as a problem during spring bird migration. The Feather Friendly treatment is a film applied to the outside of the glass. When peeled back, it leaves behind a grid of dots 2 inches apart that birds can see.

SOS Save Our Songbirds and Feather Friendly Technologies, the manufacturer of the window treatments, donated the material. The product also is used to treat home windows and is one of several options SOS highlights to reduce window threats.

Jess Thompson, conservation education curator for Henry Vilas Zoo, says the hummingbird day pop-up event is a chance to show people the window treatments and share other ways to help birds at home. Such goals are part of the North American Songbird SAFE program requirements the zoo is working to meet. 

"We are excited for our continued partnership with SOS Save Our Songbirds and for the conservation awareness work that this group of local leaders will be doing with our Zoo guests at this event!"

The partnership has helped spark zoo efforts to develop a songbird garden, identify and start to treat the biggest problem windows for birds, and work with West High School’s Ornithology Club to train student interns to use the Merlin bird identification app and other tools to document birds on zoo grounds.