It is easy to believe that winter hummingbirds are totally dependent on our feeders to survive.  Although feeders hanging in backyards have helped hummingbirds winter throughout the Southeast, wintering hummers such as the rufous have other sources of food.

       One of these foods is the sap that wells up in active sapsucker holes.  Although yellow-bellied sapsuckers excavate these shall reservoirs to provide food for themselves, a variety of critters such as other birds, squirrels, butterflies and even hummingbirds dine on the sugary sap found their excavations. Since the shrub also produces pollen, they attract the some of the few pollinators that also dine on pollen during the winter.

       Another underappreciated source of food is the nectar is produced by winter blooming camellias. One of the best is (Camellia sasanqua).  This flowering shrub blooms from fall throughout the winter.

       These glossy-leaved thick shrubs also provide the tiny birds with much-needed roost sites.
If you know of any other varieties of camellias that attract winter hummingbirds to your yard, please let me know.