Out & About

Flight itinerary a hummer-dinger

OUTDISTANCE – A 3-inch, male black-chinned hummingbird recently was recaptured and released near Hamilton, Mont., about 1,000 miles from where it had been banded nine years ago as a chick along Arizona’s San Pedro River.

Researchers at the Southeast Arizona Bird Observatory in Bisbee said this is the oldest known male black-chinned to have been captured, banded and recaptured. They said the bird likely has migrated back and forth from Southeast Arizona to Montana each year since 2000.

The black-chinned is the most widespread Western hummingbird species, nesting from north-central Mexico to southern British Columbia.

Other hummer species are known to fly even farther. Eastern-based ruby-throated hummingbirds routinely fly over the Gulf of Mexico. But long-distance bird recaptures such as this are extremely rare, said Greg Butcher, the National Audubon Society’s bird conservation director in Washington, D.C.

AAA services expand to bikes

OUTFIELD – The American Automobile Association has extended its roadside assistance program to bicyclists in Oregon and parts of Idaho.

Several membership levels will be offered.

If a member’s bike becomes inoperable, AAA will dispatch a vehicle and provide transportation to a safe point within a 25-mile radius.