Jim Blaylock, Associated Press A rufous hummingbird moves in on a feeder at a home in Martinez, Ga. Click photo for larger image.

December may seem an odd time to write about hummingbirds, but thanks to some adventurous western species, they're getting hard to ignore. Since October, rufous hummingbirds have been seen in Ohio, Pennsylvania and several other eastern states.

Ruby-throated hummingbirds, the common species in the east, head south by mid October. Any hummingbird seen after that time is likely to be a stray from the west, and it should be reported. In recent years the Hummer/Bird Study Group has documented 13 species of hummingbirds wandering east in the fall and winter. Most have been rufous hummingbirds.

I first learned of winter hummingbird sightings in October 1997 when a female rufous hummer showed up at a feeder in Delmont near Greensburg. "Ruthie," as she came to be known, became a topic for discussion on my radio show (2-4 p.m. Saturdays on WPTT-AM, 1360, an on the Internet at www.1360wptt.com).

In December 1997, banders from the Hummer/Bird Study Group captured and banded the bird. Amazingly Ruthie returned to the same backyard in October 1998. She died in January 1999 and is now a specimen in the bird collection at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

Since then, numerous rufous hummers have shown up throughout the east each fall. Some stay for several months before heading south to warmer climates. What's most remarkable about this is that the normal range of rufous hummingbirds is the Pacific northwest -- from Oregon and Idaho north to Alaska. They are tough little birds and easily survive sub-freezing night time temperatures. Their normal migratory path takes them south through the western states to wintering grounds in southern California, the Gulf coast and Mexico.

Birds' migratory routes are at least partly encoded in their genes, and hummingbird bander Scott Wiedensaul believes the wandering hummers that appear in the east are the result of genetic mistakes.

"If a rufous hummingbird's innate fall migratory instructions send it west, it will die in the Pacific Ocean," Weidensaul said. "If it goes north, it will die in the Arctic. But if its bearing takes it to Pennsylvania, New Jersey or Virginia, it has a good chance of surviving and working its way south to Florida or the Gulf coast. And those genetic instructions remain in the population to be passed on to the next generation."

That's a reasonable explanation for why oddball hummers keep showing up in the east.

And thanks to Robert Protz, a hummingbird enthusiast from the Pittsburgh area, I've learned that Pennsylvania's rufous sightings date back to 1975. The first one was reported that year in Chester County outside Philadelphia and the bird ended up in the Philadelphia Zoo. To access Protz's information, visit his web site (pahummers.tripod.com).

If you'd like a chance, and I emphasize "chance," to see a winter hummingbird, expert Bob Sargent of the Hummer/Bird Study Group suggests keeping a nectar feeder filled all winter. You just might be one of the lucky few to see a wandering winter hummingbird.

The Hummer BSG Web site (www.hummingbirdsplus.org) offers instructions for heating a nectar feeder to keep the nectar from freezing.

And the possibilities aren't just limited to rufous hummers. Just last week, an Anna's hummingbird was reported near Cincinnati, a first record for Ohio. Normally Anna's hummingbirds nest from southern Arizona north to British Columbia and their migratory habits are not well known. In fact, many do not migrate at all, so an appearance in Ohio is noteworthy.

If you ever see a hummingbird in winter, there are people who want to know. The staff at the Powdermill Avian Research Center (724-593-7521) in Western Pennsylvania or Sargent (205-681-2888; Rubythroat@aol.com) can put you in touch with banders in your area.

To keep abreast of unusual bird sightings, consider joining your state birding organization. Google "birding list serve" for your state to work your way to many sources of valuable current information. And for hummingbird news and information, consider joining HUMNET at www.museum.lsu.edu/~remsen/HUMNETintro.