Hummingbirds, seen and not

Written by Jack Sanders
Thursday, 18 September 2008 14:02

Several correspondents have written in the past couple weeks about hummingbirds, both seen and not seen.
“Do you think Hanna affected hummingbirds?” asks ‘Jane N.’
“I worried about the little critters when the hurricane hit. Since then, I’ve hardly seen them, although before I was constantly refilling the feeders.
“There could be one other explanation: Just prior to that, bees found our feeders here in Ridgefield. The hummers would leave when they saw a bee, so they were feeding less often. Maybe they gave up. Or it could be Hanna devastated them?”
First off, I have not heard of bees visiting a hummingbird feeder. However, yellow jacket wasps often visit feeders in August and September, but wasps are not bees!
Bees get such a bad rap because of the similarly colored, but differently built yellow jackets, which are much more aggressive and annoying than any of our local bees. Throughout August and September, we hear many ambulance calls on our newspaper office radio scanners for “bee stings” that are, almost without a doubt, yellow jacket stings. Never equate all those hard-working, helpful bees buzzing around your flowers with the annoying yellow jackets trying to steal hummingbird nectar.
That said, I have watched hummingbirds battle yellow jackets for access to the feeders, and they don’t seem too much bothered by the wasps. But they are careful. And yes, yellow jackets can sip a lot of nectar if a good number discover the feeder.
Many brands of feeders come with erroneously named “bee guards,” which are actually wasp guards. These help. However, yellow jackets are attracted to anything sweet, and even a drip or two on the guard may bring some in.
As for Hanna, it was not enough of a storm to affect any kind of bird in our neighborhood — though ducks probably loved all the water.

Still there

Linda Maggs of Ridgefield says, “Here it is Sept. 12, and the hummingbirds are still feeding in my garden and at the feeders. Can they know that there are storms in the South, therefore delaying their migration?”
Hummingbirds depart over a period of weeks. Some have left by late August or early September; others hang around sometimes till early October. Still others may stop by in September and October on their way south from Canada and northern New England.
There is no evidence birds know what distant weather is like. However, these birds are tougher than one may think. Because hummingbirds are so tiny, we tend to think of them as very delicate. But consider this: a Ruby-throated Hummingbird, wings beating 80 times per second, can fly non-stop across 1,000 miles of the Gulf of Mexico at up to 40 miles per hour and only a few feet over the surface of the water. And it can do it twice a year.
Even more amazing is its metabolism. If you weighed 170 pounds and lived like a hummingbird, you’d burn 150,000 calories a day and produce 100 pounds of sweat. And if you ran out of water, your skin temperature would surpass the melting point of lead and you’d probably catch fire.
That’s a pretty amazing bird.

Nectar thieves

“I have been watching hummingbirds at the sugar feeder this summer, but they seem to have tired of it lately,” says Jayne Rogers.  “However, there is a frequent user — a Downy Woodpecker!  Do they commonly feed from the hummingbird feeders?”
Yes, Downies definitely have a sweet tooth — or beak. So do a few others, like Black-capped Chickadees. However, these birds can easily drink only from hummingbird feeders with perches or other places for them to alight. Many hummingbird feeders are designed without such landing places, and consequently are pretty much “hummer only.”

First one

Then there’s John McGinley of Wilton, who doesn’t even have a hummingbird feeder up at the moment, and yet, he writes Sept. 11, “finally saw my first hummer here,”  
“Have tried to attract them over the years, but with no flowers, no luck. He flew here and there around the deck looking in the windows at bright things, at me, and then flew off.”

Coming Up

Live raptor presentation by Audubon Sharon, Thursday, Sept. 18, 7 p.m., Western Connecticut Bird Club, Southbury Public Library, 100 Poverty Road, 203-426-3901
Fall Bird Migrants, hike, Saturday, Sept. 27, 7 to 8:45 a.m., Audubon Greenwich, 613 Riversville Road, Greenwich, 203-869-5272 RSVP to store at x221.
Raptor ID Made Easy, with Ken Mirman, Saturday, Sept. 27, 11 to noon, free, Audubon Greenwich, 613 Riversville Road, Greenwich, 203-869-5272 RSVP to store at x221.
Bird walks with Luke Tiller, mostly Saturdays at 8 a.m., $10 each; to register, www. sunrisebirding. com/ walks.htm;  203-981-9924, luke.tiller @ gmail.com.
First Sundays, birding at Greenwich Point with Meredith Sampson of Wild Wings, and other guides, meet at the second concession stand, 203-637-9822.

Copyright (c) 2008 by Jack Sanders. Send sightings or comments to: jackfsanders [at sign] yahoo.com, or to Bird Notes, Box 1019, Ridgefield, CT 06877; or call 203-438-1183, extension BIRD (2473), and leave a message with your report, spelling your first and last names and telling us your town. If you need help identifying a bird, try your local nature center. If you find an injured bird, call wildlife rehabilitator Darlene Wimbrow of Redding, 203-438-0618, Wildlife in Crisis of Weston, 203-544-9913, or Wild Wings of Greenwich, 203-637-9822. The columnist’s website is www. sandersbooks. com.

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