Hummingbird Feeders

A bit of a controversy surrounds when to stop feeding hummingbirds coming to your backyard feeder each fall.

Some people say September 1^st, while others claim it is all right to leave it hanging until the hummingbirds leave.  The argument suggests that the hummingbirds would be encouraged to stay around an artificial food source too long and might not migrate early enough to survive. 

I spotted several female Ruby-throated Hummingbirds in Lake Park, Milwaukee recently, looking healthy and capable of migrating whenever they felt like it. They were alternating between loading up on jewelweed nectar for one minute and resting on branches the next.  The scene was mostly peaceful with many fall flowers available, but a few nectar squabbles broke out anyway. 

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology claims the need to take down feeders early because it discourages a timely migration is a myth.  Hummingbirds, like other birds, are more likely to leave naturally because of the shortening hours of daylight, rather than the availability of food. 

They seem to know naturally when to leave for their own good and no amount of feeder food will encourage them to stick around when it is time to go.  Cornell Lab even recommends you leave your feeder up for a couple of weeks after seeing the last hummingbird to supplement any stragglers that may have timed their departure poorly.  

Taking it down or leaving it up, a feeder is largely for our enjoyment anyway.  There is a female Ruby-throated Hummingbird hovering six-inches outside my window right now.

Allan 

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

The Ruby-throated Hummingbird is the only hummingbird you are likely to see in Wisconsin.  If you have one sipping nectar in your garden this year, consider yourself lucky. 

The male usually gets all the attention, due to his brilliant throat colors, but the female is just as beautiful. 

The female's throat is largely white, although there is nothing large about this bird at all.  At a petite 0.11-ounce and with a wingspan about as long as your middle finger, hummingbirds have to be seen up-close to be appreciated. 

Viewed from the back, males and females are nearly identical. The female’s blue-green iridescent back is just as striking as the male’s.  

From the front the male has a ruby throat, but only when the light strikes him at just the right angle.  At all other times his throat is a dull black. 

The female keeps herself looking good by occasionally cleaning, straightening and re-arranging her coat of feathers.  

The male spends a lot of his time chasing other hummingbirds from his territory and away from his nectar sources. Males are very aggressive and highly territorial.  He shares his nectar with the female, but he definitely drinks first. 

Feathers are rearranged and tucked back in place.

This looks to be a first-year male. He's just now developing his iridescent throat feathers. 

He might return next year to the state of his birth fully grown to establish his own territory…fully-grown at 1/10 of an ounce, that is.

I'd be happy to see all three of them if they returned to my garden next year.

They certainly are welcome.

Allan