by Gwyneth Doland on
Silver City celebrates its tiniest tourists this month with a two-day festival July 28-29 devoted to the colorful hummingbirds who pause here during their migration between Mexico and Canada. Volunteers at the Mimbres Culture Heritage Site have hung 20 nectar-filled feeders on the veranda of the 19th-century territorial Gooch House, which also holds the Mimbres Museum. Watch as trained banders briefly capture some of the birds and attach tiny identification tags. The banding begins at 8 a.m. each day, but food, music, and speakers will go on until about 3 p.m. Be sure to take a tour of the famous Mattocks archaeological site and go inside the museum to see examples of the iconic Mimbres pottery found there (575-536-3333, valleymimbrescultureheritagesite.org).
BANDING PARTY
Capulín Volcano National Monument, near Ratón, hosts hummingbird banding most Fridays May through August. Rangers and student interns invite you to watch closely as they gently capture broad-tailed, black-chinned, calliope, and rufous hummingbirds. If you’re lucky, a ranger might rest a freshly tagged little hummer in your hand and let it take flight from your palm (575-278-2201, nps.gov/cavo).