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BACKYARD SECRET – FUELING RUBYTHROAT MIGRATION?

Sep3

       

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

Aug30

       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

Aug26

       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.

       While killdeer do most of their feeding during the daylight hours, they do feed at night. Killdeer will hunt for food during the non-breeding season on moonlight nights.  In addition, they also forage for food at night in open areas such as parking lots and athletic fields that are bathed in bright artificial light.  It seems that the bright lights often attract a bounty of insects such as moths and beetles.

BACKYARD SECRET – BUTTERFLIES HAVE AN ODD WAY OF TASTING THEIR FOOD

Aug23

          We taste food by placing it in our mouths; such is not the case with butterflies. Unbelievably, butterflies taste food with their feet. It seems that when a butterfly lands on a flower, before it unrolls its straw-like proboscis and begins dining on the flower’s nectar, they taste the potential source of food through their feet.  They are able to accomplish this amazing fete because their feet are cloaked with cells (chemoreceptors) that let a butterfly know whether the flower contains sugary nectar.

     

BACKYARD SECRET – HOW MUCH NECTAR DOES AN ADULT E. TIGER SWALLOW EAT IN A DAY?

Aug19

         The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail is one of the largest butterflies commonly seen in Georgia yards.  In spite of its relatively large size (wingspan -3.5 – 5.5 inches), this colorful butterfly consumes only 0.0014 – 0.0105 ounces of nectar daily.  To put this in perspective, a standard-sized paperclip weighs only 0.04 ounces.

THE BEST HUMMINGBIRD FOOD

Aug9

 

    During July and August Georgians typically feed more ruby-throated hummingbirds than at any other time of the year.  I know that is the case at my home.  For weeks, the demand of sugar water has been so great my wife has been making 20 cups of nectar every other day to keep up with the hummingbirds’ demand for the sugary treat. 

       Whenever you are feeding hummingbirds, you want to be sure that you are feeding them the right food.  With that in mind, here is the recipe for the best hummingbird food.  Boil a mixture containing 4 parts water and 1-part white table sugar for minutes.  Allow the nectar to cool and store in your refrigerator.

       During the extremely hot weather that has been roasting Georgia for weeks, it is best to replace the nectar in your feeders every 3 days or so.

FEEDING BIRDS SEEDS DURING THE SUMMER CAN BE CHALLENGING

Aug5

       Feeding seeds to birds during the summer can be more challenging than during the winter months.  One of the main reasons for this is in the summer the high humidity and heat encourages mold and bacteria to contaminate seeds. As a result, birds that dine on contaminated food are more likely to become infected by a number of diseases. Here are a few tips that will help you prevent this from happening. 

       During the summer, you often have to clean feeders every 3-5 days in order to discourage a buildup of dangerous bacteria and mold.  Clean feeders with soap and water. Follow this up by disinfecting them with a solution of nine parts water and one part bleach.  Dry the feeders before refilling them with seeds.

       Some seeds are safer to use in summer.  One of these is black oil sunflower seed.  These seeds can be fed shelled and unshelled.

       White millet also can resist mold and bacteria however, if you scatter it on the ground, the millet seeds will spoil quicker than they will if fed in feeders.

       Avoid feeding mixed seed during the summer. The reason for this is it contains ingredients that quickly become contaminated (e.g. cracked corn and milo). Peanuts also spoil quickly in humid, hot weather.

 

BACKYARD SECRET – SILVER-SPOTTED SKIPPERS SHUN YELLOW FLOWERS

Jul30

       Sometimes a wildlife secret hides in plain sight.  A good example of that is, in spite of the fact that the silver-spotted skipper visits gardens across Georgia; it is not generally known that this handsome butterfly shuns yellow flowers. While the silver-spotted skipper occasionally nectars at yellow flowers, it by far prefers feeding at purple, red, blue and pink blossoms.

       If you want to see if this is true, closely watch which flowers silver-spotted skippers visit in your flower gardens this summer.

TIPS THAT HELP OFFERING HUMMERS FRESH NECTAR

Jul22

      With heat indexes almost daily soaring above 110°F, the nectar we offer our hummingbird neighbors can quickly spoil. With that in mind, here are a couple of simple tips that help ensure that rubythroats will be dining on nectar that has not spoiled.

       While summer temperatures soar, the hummingbird nectar we provide in the feeders’ spoils more rapidly than it does when temperatures are not excessively hot.  With that in mind, if you are using large feeders that take hummingbirds days to drain, put them away and use smaller feeders.  In addition, it is a good idea to replace the unused fluid in your feeders every couple of days. 

       If you notice that the nectar in a feeder is cloudy, immediately discard it. That is a sure sign that it is no longer fresh.  

 

THE HACKBERRY GALLS – PROVIDES IMPORTANT WILDLIFE FOOD

Jul19

     Most of us recognize that the hackberry is a fantastic wildlife food plant.  It is a caterpillar host for a variety of butterflies including the hackberry emperor, tawny emperor, snout, mourning cloak, question mark and comma.  The tree’s berries are eaten by at least 48 species of birds and other wildlife.  The importance of the hackberry’s berries is compounded by the fact they remain on the tree throughout the fall, winter into the next spring. And yet the tree’s value does not end there. It is a little-known fact that the galls that appear on the tree’s foliage are also fantastic sources of food.

   Although the galls are not pleasing to the eye, they do not cause any real harm to the tree.  These odd unsightly growths are made by insects known as the blackberry psyllids. Hidden inside the galls are tiny grubs packed full of protein.

     Many birds peck into the galls and dine on these tiny morsels of food hidden there throughout the year. The tiny insects housed in galls from late summer into early fall are a great source of food for southbound songbirds.

     During rhea winter insect-eating birds also dine on the insects living inside the galls. In spring, when the adult psyllids emerge, they are an important source of protein and fat for breeding songbirds and migrants heading north through the state.

     Wow! It is astounding that galls that we commonly overlook are so important to so many.