photo by Richard Simms
Most of Georgia's ruby-throated hummingbirds have migrated south for the winter, but thousands more will be sighted on license plates across the state beginning in December. The Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division (WRD) has announced plans to present a new hummingbird license plate, giving residents another option for supporting wildlife conservation by simply purchasing a tag for their vehicle.
Vehicle owners will be able to purchase the wildlife plate for a one-time specialty tag fee of $20 at county tag offices. The money will go directly into the Wildlife Conservation Fund, which supports numerous WRD projects to preserve nongame species.
"Sales of wildlife tags provide critical funding for numerous conservation projects benefiting Georgia's wildlife, including many endangered and threatened species," said Mike Harris, chief of the WRD Nongame Wildlife and Natural Heritage Section. "The bald eagle license plate has been extremely popular among Georgia drivers, and we expect the hummingbird tag to be a tremendous success as well."
The new tag design features the ruby-throated hummingbird in front of a blossoming trumpet creeper vine, a staple of the tiny birds' diet. Ruby-throated hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris) are a favorite among bird watchers and gardeners for their bright colors and unique hovering ability. The diminutive birds breed throughout eastern North America, and most spend the winter in Mexico or Central America, although a few remain in Georgia year-round. The male ruby-throat, depicted on the new tag, typically leaves the state in late summer and returns in the spring.
In test marketing conducted over the Internet in 2003, the hummingbird tag design placed second only to the bald eagle tag in popularity among those responding to the survey. The bald eagle/American flag design was first offered on license plates in December 2003 and sold roughly 350,000 tags in its first year.
Like the bald eagle license plate, sales of the new hummingbird tag will finance conservation, education and recreation projects that support nongame and endangered wildlife and plants. Nongame species encompass any wildlife that is not legally hunted, including songbirds, shorebirds and wading birds, turtles, frogs, salamanders, native plants and trees, sea turtles, right whales, swallow-tail kites, eagles and falcons.
Since the wildlife license plate program began in Georgia in 1998, proceeds have been allocated for an array of nongame projects such as bald eagle surveys, sea turtle nest protection, the swallow-tail kite initiative and enhanced wildlife viewing areas. Tag dollars have also been used to purchase critical land such as endangered species habitat, environmentally sensitive wetlands, aquatic ecosystems and longleaf pine/wiregrass habitat.
In Georgia, no state funds are appropriated for nongame wildlife conservation programs. These important projects are funded solely through federal grants, direct donations and fundraising initiatives like the nongame wildlife license plate and State Income Tax Checkoff. To support conservation programs for Georgia's nongame wildlife, purchase a new nongame wildlife license plate for your vehicle, or donate to the "Give Wildlife a Chance" State Income Tax Checkoff.
WRD also offers a license plate depicting bobwhite quail and a whitetail deer. Funds from the sales of this license plate benefit conservation practices of the Georgia Bobwhite Quail Initiative (BQI), a program implemented in 1999 to address declining bobwhite quail populations.