A brown-headed nuthatch weighs 0.3 ounces (about the weight of 4 pennies) to o.4 ounces (roughly the weight of an AAA Alkaline battery).
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BACKYARD SECRET – WHERE DO RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRDS WINTER?
When ruby-throated leave our feeders at the end of summer they winter in a number of places.
While most of them leave the United States, a small number actually overwinter here. Most of these birds take up residence in Florida; however, they also winter in a number of other Southeastern states. I have banded wintering hummingbirds in Georgia. Each year hummingbirds also winter in the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
Outside of the United States some rubythoats also regularly spend the winter in West Indies.
Most of our ruby-throated hummingbirds winter in a vast range that extends from Mexico to Central America. More rubythroats winter in Mexico than in any other country although wintering birds also reside in Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, and Nicaragua.
DON’T TAKE DOWN ALL OF YOUR HUMMINGBIRD FEEDERS
My wife and I saw a hummingbird October 9. Since we have during the past five days later, we have probably seen our last ruby-throated hummingbird this year. In spite of this, we will continue the maintain a single feeder. In fact, we take a feeder down.
There are a couple of reasons for this. One reason is, there is always the chance that a rubythroat heading toward its winter home. If one does find our yard, it will benefit from being able to quickly refuel and continue on its migration.
Another reason is a few rubythoats do spend the winter here. If they do, our feeder will supplement the food it collects from feeding at yellow-bellied sapsucker holes, and other sources.
If you do maintain a feeder, you have a chance of attracting a rufous hummingbird. Over the past several decades rufous hummingbirds have wintered here every year. In fact, the rufous hummingbird is the most common hummingbird seen in Georgia during the winter.
A feeder will give you a chance of seeing another species of hummingbirds that visit the Peach State now and then. This includes such as the black-chinned, calliope, Allen’s and others.
If you maintain at least one hummingbird feeder throughout the winter, chances are you will not see one of these birds. If you are lucky, you will be in for a real treat.
MIGRANTS PASSING IN THE NIGHT
Now that we are in the first week of fall, here is something you might want to order before you drop off to sleep tonight.
While you are asleep, thousands of migratory songbirds are passing over Georgia. These long-distant migrants are flying toward their winter homes far to the south of the Peach State.
Many of them will fly 165 miles or more before dropping from the skies tomorrow morning at a stopover area. These are special places where they can rest, drink and refuel.
The birds fly under the cover of darkness because the air is cool and they can avoid predators. One of the reasons they are able to fly across night skies is because they can navigate using star patterns. In addition, special proteins located in their bills and eyes allow them to sense the Earth’s magnetic fields.
For more information regarding how you can assist these migrants, read: Out My Backdoor: Make Your Yard a Pit Stop for Southbound Migrants | Department Of Natural Resources Division
THE VALUE OF LEAVING DRY CONEFLOWER SEED HEADS
With each passing day, the beautiful coneflower blossoms that adorned our gardens throughout the summer wither and die. When this occurs all that remains are prickly brown seed heads. When this happens often your first impulse is to prune cut them off. If you want to help many of the seed-eating birds that have called your yard home throughout the spring and summer, resist the urge to snip them off.
The reason for this is each seed head contains 200-300 nutritious seeds. Since the seed heads persist into winter, they provide seeding-eating birds with a source of food when food is scarce. Indeed these natural seed feeders are an asset to any backyard.
American goldfinches are particularly fond of the seeds; however, other birds dine on the nutritious seeds too. The list of the birds that compete with goldfinches for this bounty include blue jays, mockingbirds, Carolina chickadees brown-headed nuthatches and cardinals.
BACKYARD SECRET – MOURING DOVE NESTS CAN BE FOUND THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE YEAR IN GEORGIA
Remarkably mourning doves can be seen nesting throughout the entire year in Georgia. This is due to the fact that doves are known to nest up from five o six times a year; however, they normally nest only three times a year.
Typically the mourning dove nesting season commences February 1 in South Georgia. In spite of this, the peak of nesting season takes place from May – July.
BACKYARD SECRET – FUELING RUBYTHROAT MIGRATION?
During the past few weeks the hummingbirds that have been visiting our feeders seem are on a feeding frenzy. The reason for this is they are trying to store enough fuel (in the form of fat) to power their fall migration.
Prior to migration, an adult female ruby-throated weighs roughly 1/10th of an ounce (3.5 grams). These long-distance migrants will consume enough nectar and insects to increase their weight to 5.5 grams (0.194 ounces). Each gram of this stored fat enables a hummingbird to migrate 300 miles.
THE TIMING OF THE FALL RUBYTHROAT MIGRATION
If you have been feeding hummingbirds, you have probably noticed that the number of rubythroats visiting your feeders has dropped significantly. This reason for this is rubythroats are heading south on their fall migration. Interestingly, the timing of their departure is dependent on their sex and age. Let’s take a quick look at the timing of the migration in Georgia.
If you take a close look at the birds visiting your feeders, you will notice that currently few adult males are still using your feeders. The reason for this is adult males are the first to leave. While some adult males will begin migration as early as July, most will leave in August. The adult females are the next to leave they begin their southward trek in August. The last to depart are the hummers that hatched this year. Most of these birds migrate in September.
BACKYARD SECRET – KILLDEER CAN FEED AT NIGHT
One evening this week my granddaughter called to ask me, Is it unusual see killdeer feeding in a brightly-lit parking lot at night?” She posed the question because she and her friend spotted two killdeer feeding alongside puddles of water in a large well-lit parking lot.
