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RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRDS ARE COMING HOME
For months ruby-throated hummingbirds have been wintering from Panama northward through Central America and southern Mexico. Over the next few weeks these long-distance migrants will embark on their spring migration.
The males are the first to arrive in the Peach State. Typically, they reach extreme South Georgia as early as March 1. From there they move steadily northward at a pace of roughly 23 miles per day. Adult males reach my middle Georgia backyard toward the end of the second week in March. The females follow the males about nine days later.
With that in mind, if you are a hummingbird fancier, now sis the time to take a hummingbird feeder or two off the shelf, make a batch of nectar, pour some in a feeder, and hang it up in your backyard. Then all you can do is patiently wait for the arrival of your first hummingbird of the year.
Here is a tip: do not fill your feeders to the brim. This is because initially you will be feeding only one or two birds at a time. Consequently, if you fill up your feeders early in the hummingbird season, most of the nectar will spoil long before the birds can consume all of it.
For the past several years, I have been recording the arrival dates of the first male and female rubythroats. With that in mind, I would greatly appreciate it if you would report the arrival the first male and female that you see. Please include t the name of the county where you live when you file your report.
I know you are excited, as I am that ruby-throated hummingbirds will soon be patrolling our backyards. Beyond any doubt they enrich our lives.
BIRD FEEDERS APPEAR TO HAVE HELPED THE CAROLINA WREN EXPAND ITS RANGE NORTHWARD
For decades, a number of birds have been expanding their ranges northward. Some birds appear to have been aided by bird feeders. One such bird is the Carolina wren. A study conducted near Ann Arbor, Michigan seems to corroborate this.
Here biologists compared the density and survival of Carolina wrens inhabiting residential neighborhoods and parks where they had access to feeders to wren populations living in rural areas devoid of feeders. Over the course of the winter the wren populations in both study areas dropped, however by the time spring arrived, the survival rates of the birds that had access to feeders was higher than those inhabiting rural sites where no feeders were present.
A GREAT CHRISTMAS GIFT TO INTRODUCE SOMEBODY INTO BIRD FEEDING
If you are looking for an inexpensive Christmas gift for an adult or youngster that harbors an interest in birds but does not feed birds, consider giving them an inexpensive clear plastic tube feeder. This type of feeder keeps seeds from getting wet and spoiling. In addition, allows a homeowner to monitor how much seed remains in the tube and is easy to clean.
It is also important to provide them with a bag of high-quality birdseed. Emphasize to them that the best seed mixes are composed of a mixture containing high percentages of black oil sunflower seeds and millet. They should shy away for mixtures containing large percentages of milo, corn. or wheat seeds. While these mixes are often the least expensive, birds often eat very little of these types of food. Invariably, these components end up on the ground beneath the feeder where they spoil and can cause a health risk to birds.
Photos are for illustration purposes only.
A tube feeder stocked with a high-quality seed attracts a wide range of birds that eat millet and/or sunflower seeds. Here is a list of a dozen birds that just might pay a visit to their feeder (or will feed the ground below the feeder) this winter: chipping sparrow, house finch, Carolina chickadee, cardinal, blue jay, eastern towhee, white-throated sparrow, song sparrow, dark-eyed junco, purple finch, and American goldfinch.
When they open their gift, you should advise them that bird feeding could be addicting. As such, feeding birds just might be something they will enjoy the rest of their life.
KEEPING UNWANTED CRITTERS FROM HUMMER FEEDERS
One of the things I like about writing a blog is that bloggers share techniques that they have found benefit their wildlife neighbors and/or to enhance our ability to provide a place for them to find food, water and shelter in our backyards.
Here is a tip a blogger recently shared with us.
Carol wrote, “Hang your hummingbird feeders securely on hooks installed under the eaves of your house. Very few predators can access it. I hang them outside our dining room windows on the shade side of the house to protect the sugar water from fermenting. I put 2 or 3 pieces of blue tape on the outside window glass so the little birds know that they can’t fly through it.”
Thanks, Carol, for sharing your hummingbird feeding tip!”
TIPS ON FEEDING RUBYTHROATS IN HOT WEATHER
Practically everyone that goes to the effort of attracting hummingbirds to their backyards offer the birds food in feeders. However, with daily temperatures throughout Georgia hovering in the high 90s and heat indexes soaring well above the century mark, maintaining nectar that is safe for the tiny birds to eat is a challenge. Here are a few tips that you might consider adopting to ensure the health of the hummers that dine at your hummingbird cafe.
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Clean feeders at least twice as often during prolonged periods of high temperatures. Some people clean feeders twice a week during such times. If you do so, you will prevent the buildup of stubborn bacteria and fungus. Consequently, each cleaning will be much easier.
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Keep from offering hummingbirds too much food. Don’t fill feeders to the brim if they consume only a fraction of food every few days. This ensures the birds are always feeding on fresh food.
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If possible, move feeders to locations where they out of the direct sun during the hottest time of the day. This will help keep the sugar water from spoiling as quickly as it would in direct sunlight.
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Offer hummingbird food in glass feeders. Hummingbird food will not spoil as quickly in feeders equipped with glass reservoirs. This is because glass is a better insulator than plastic.
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Try wrapping the reservoirs of your feeders with aluminum foil. Supposedly, aluminum foil will block UV rays and actually reflect 98% of the sun’s radiant energy, and therefore, keep nectar from overheating. Folks are beginning to adopt this technique because some researchers are reporting that hummingbird nectar can get too hot. Their studies suggest that hummingbirds feeding on sugar water heated to 102ºF can adversely affect their metabolic system.
HOW SHOULD HUMMINGBIRD FEEDERS BE POSITIONED?
Finally, after weeks of only occasionally seeing hummingbirds at my backyard hummingbird feeder, during the past few days five or more are now vying for the opportunity to drink sugar water from the feeder. When this happens, what do you do? Some say you should scatter a number of small feeders each equipped for a small number of feeding portals across your yard. Others opt for replacing a single small feeder with one that has eight to more than a dozen spots to feed. Which is best?
As a rule, since hummingbirds are so territorial, it seems to make sense that a number of small feeders equipped with places to feed placed at different locations positioned at different locations would cut down territorial disputes among the birds and allow more hummers to feed without expending a lot of time and energy trying to compete for food at a single feeder. Consequently, employing this strategy might attract more hummers to your yard than a single huge feeder.
Since every yard is different, the best way to find what works best for you is to experiment. Try feeding the birds with a large feeder for a few days and then replace it with multiple feeders.
I would be interested in learning what works best for you.
BLOGGER SHARES DIY SEED FEEDER TIP
One of our fellow bloggers saw this tip and shared it with me regarding how to make an inexpensive seed feeder. It was such a neat idea I thought I would share idea with you.
Anonymous wrote…
“Bird watching is a pastime of mine, but I don’t love going out and buying new suet feeders. They’re not expensive but still, I like to DIY them by using peanut butter or coconut butter as an adhesive to stick the birdseed on a paper towel roll.”
EATING TO STAY WARM ON FRIGID NIGHTS
Last night when the temperature dipped to 14º F, I knew the birds in my backyards were facing a life and death struggle to survive the cold weather. For example, the tufted titmice and Carolina chickadees that frequent my feeders throughout the day had to burn far more body fat than normal just to keep from freezing to death. This meant these small birds could have easily lost 70-75% of their stored body fat between sunset and dawn.
To ensure that they had enough stored fat in their bodies to meet this challenge the birds, they could have eaten some 20% more fat-laden foods before sunset than they do when temperatures are higher. This helps explain why we see them visiting our suet and black oil sunflower seed feeders more often when the weather turns cold.
WHEN DID RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRDS LEAVE THIS FALL?
A few weeks ago, I asked if you would be kind enough to report when you saw the last ruby-throated hummingbird in your yard this year. Responses to my request came from throughout the entire state. Here is a brief summary of what they responses revealed.
Departure days spread over 21 days extending from October 5 through October 25.
A Monroe homeowner last saw a hummingbird October 25.
Unfortunately, I do not have the name of the location where the earliest departure date took place.
Interestingly, most of the departures (47%) took place during a four-day period extending from October 11-14.
