Readers tell of hummingbirds’ winter visits
Published 8:30 pm Friday, January 8, 2010
As predicted in last week’s column, we’re returning to the hummingbird-in- winter topic today and then laying it to rest. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed everyone’s comments.
Here are a few:
Paul Treckeme floated an out-of-the-box solution to the freezing sugar-water problem in hummingbird feeders. He’s been nurturing hummingbirds all winter.
“(But) the liquid contents have been freezing in the feeders. It has been suggested that I should put a little gin or spirits in the liquid to work like an antifreeze, but I consider that a no-no for obvious reasons.”
The solution is to bring the feeders in when the food starts to freeze. Another option is the let-there-be-light technique.
Brint and Phyllis Yorks of Woodinville write:
“We used to keep our hummingbird feeder out from May to about August. When we noticed no decline in the liquid inside, we would bring it in.
“Then we noticed a small decline and left it out. It takes our lone hummingbird about a month to empty our Opus glass-egg feeder.
“That was in 2005. Our bird has been with us continuously ever since. … It’s fun to see the hummer in the winter, flying through the falling snowflakes to and from the feeder. Our hummer made it through the windstorm in December 2006, when we had 100 mph winds.
“He also made it through last winter when we had three feet of snow near Maltby. One morning we awoke to find the feeder frozen solid. My wife and I thawed it with a hair dryer.
“Then my wife read that hanging the feeder near a 40-watt bulb will prevent it from freezing. It works. The feeder stayed melted through all that snow last winter. When the snow was gone, the hummer was still here.
“This will be his fifth winter with us. How long do they live?”
What a great long-term observation. While it’s difficult to tell one hummingbird from another of the same sex, particularly from year to year, the typical answer to the life-span question is 3 to 5 years. But there’s plenty of evidence that supports a longer life span in large numbers of hummingbirds.
The record is for a broad-tailed hummingbird banded in 1976 and recaptured in 1987, in the same Colorado location.
Debbie Rochon sent a photograph of an Anna’s at the feeder, complete with ice in the feeder and extra fluffy feathers on its legs.
Stacie Perkins, who lives in the Mukilteo area, has tried different feeders and formulas to attract hummers, but with little success.
“However, in early December I spotted one little guy visiting what was left of my fuchsia bush, and I realized he would be in trouble if I didn’t refill the feeder.
“I’m glad I did, because the following week the temperature went below freezing, and he seemed very appreciative of the thawed nectar I provided. … He is a constant source of delight for me.”
Don’t give up on the next wave of hummingbirds, Stacie. With feeders and fuchsias, the odds are good that they will find you.
And in another e-mail: “We’ve had winter hummers for several years. … We have a single feeder stuck on the window over the kitchen sink with plain 3:1 sugar mix, (so) they often feed within a few inches of one of us.
“Ours feed regularly at dawn and dusk with intermittent appearances in between. Feeding involves from a few to as many as 56 dips and averages about 30.
“Our winter visitors are Anna’s; summer visitors vary and are especially attracted by our Gartenmeister fuchsias and other red funnel flowers.”
And on that note, let’s look forward to the spring migration.
Columnist Sharon Wootton can be reached at 360-468-3964 or www.songandword.com.
On the air
PBS presents “Nature: Hummingbirds: Magic in the Air” at 8 p.m. Sunday on Channel 9. The show covers new research that sheds light on the “energetic jewels” of nature.
