[Birdtalk] Fwd: Attracting Fall Hummingbirds

[Utah Birds]

Birdnet Email -- from the website

----Original Message Follows----
Date: Sat, 6 Oct 2007 01:17:31 -0600 (MDT)

It was submitted by Kris Purdy.
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Subject: Attracting Fall Hummingbirds

Email_Address: kristinpurdy at comcast.net

Message: Have you already stored your hummingbird feeders for the year? Not so fast,
I say. It's time to wash 'em, fill 'em and get 'em back outside.

I believe wintering Anna's Hummingbirds occur in Utah much more frequently than we realize, and that we'd detect a lot more if many hummer-lovers maintained feeders in late fall. This bird is known to be expanding its range eastward from the Pacific Coast. The Wasatch Mountains provide a natural geographic barrier to hummingbirds straying east; my theory is that Anna's hit our mountains and then may move southward along the Wasatch Front to wintering areas in Arizona. But Anna's don't necessarily need to move south; if they find enough to eat, they can winter with us before returning to breeding territories in December. They are tough little birds.

Maintaining your feeders in fall may actually be easier than in summer due to the cooler temperatures. You won't need to change the nectar as frequently. I've gone from the summer schedule of every three days or so to once per week. Of course, when the nectar begins to freeze, it's a different story. The storm that usually convinces Northern Utahns that winter has arrived for good usually occurs between Thanksgiving week and the first week of December. Then, leaving feeders out becomes a challenge.

After Jack Binch found an Anna's Hummingbird in November in North Ogden in 2003 and a neighbor of mine, who lives higher on the bench than I do, saw a hummingbird at his feeder one December and January, I decided to make a concerted effort to attract a late fall hummingbird. I maintained fall and winter feeders for three years. The effort seemed faintly absurd and strongly quixotic until an adult male Anna's Hummingbird arrived at my feeder last November 10. He stayed at my house or at my neighbor's house (same neighbor mentioned above) until December 23. We concluded we were sharing the same bird by comparing Paul Higgins' photographs taken at both our homes.

Mort Somer and Jack Binch gave the effort a try last year and both were rewarded. Mort hosted two different hatch-year male Anna's and Jack hosted a female Rufous, a species known for straying and wintering in cold climates even more than the Anna's does. One of Mort's birds was at his house so long that Mort was able to watch the bird's molt progress as he gained his iridescent head plumage.

See the Utah Birds photo gallery, pages 1, 2 and 3, for Mort's, Jack's and Paul's images of the various Anna's Hummingbirds mentioned above:

http://www.utahbirds.org/birdsofutah/BirdsA-C/AnnasHummingb.htm

If your effort is successful and the bird remains through the freeze, then the...er...fun begins. Mort, Jack and I agreed that we took care of and worried about our birds like they were newborn infants. We swapped feeders when they froze, made roofs for the feeders to keep snow and ice off and heated them with lightbulbs. Frankly, it was worth it. I've engaged in few bird-related endeavors that were as rewarding as hosting that Anna's Hummingbird. He made my day when he arrived in the morning and I was despondent when he didn't show.

So...are you interested in trying to attract a fall hummingbird? This type of effort is only for dedicated hummer-lovers (like Mort and Jack) and backyard birders who become insanely jealous when other people attract fabulously good birds to their yards (that's me). You can bet my feeders are out right now, four of them. I've also placed in the yard an incredibly bright and tacky wind sock, visible across a broad expanse, that might attract a passing hummingbird if the feeders don't provide enough of a color splash from a distance. I hope you'll consider doing the same either for the reward or to join the effort to see just how common the Anna's Hummingbird is in Utah in late fall.

So...altogether, now!

For more information on vagrant hummingbirds, see this website:

http://www.trochilids.com/

Kris
       
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