Ask The Hummingbird Expert

Magpye - No cats can easily get into my backyard. I have a vinyl stockade fence that surrounds my entire backyard. We used to have a cat, but it never went outside. Strictly an indoor cat during his entire life. There may be one or two neighborhood cats, but I rarely see either of them roaming near my yard. They live further down the street and don't usually venture anywhere near my end of the street.

Teresa, I'll ask about the Rufous....I had one this spring!! It only hung around for about an hour and I never got a shot of it...but it was un-mistakable.

I have 3 cats that are outside with me most of the time. My lil hummer just ignores them, as far as I can tell.

I also live in the white area on the map, and I have had a hummer for 2 years....so there is hope for you Becky. : ) I would give you mine, but then I wouldn't have one. ; ) I'm rooting for you tho. : )

~Lucy

I was hunting around on google, looking for southward maps to se e abotu what time of the season they start heading back south.

I came acros s this site. Maybe a bunch of you have seen it.
http://www.bestnest.com/bestnest/lc/lc_ruby_throated_hummingbirds.asp

What I was surprised me was this part of the article.
Ruby-throated hummingbird migration most likely originated from the lack of suitable food during the winter months. While that may not sound surprising, many people would be incorrect in thinking that the lack of blooming flowers in the winter causes the hummingbirds to migrate south. The real reason is lack of insects! Nectar only makes up about fifty percent of a hummingbird's diet; it gives them the energy to catch the small insects that provide them with the protein they need to survive. Since many of the insects they depend on are not available in subfreezing temperatures, they migrate to Central and South America during North America’s fall and winter months. "

So now my question s is if the other 50% is protien from insects. What type of insects are they eating that we may in our ignorance unwilling destroying that feeds them and the young?

Good question, starlight. I hope it's not milkweed bugs, I just smashed a few. : )
~Lucy

starlight ..

A doggone dandy question you've posed!

I'd certainly wondered on an occasion or two .. but I'm afraid that I wouldn't've been able to get it 'spit out' no where near as well as you have!! .. heehee .. (jes luvinly teasin' you)

Definitely, a great question!! And will sure be lookin' to see what the answer/s will be also ..

Mel ..
Ya got a good digital recorder? Jes mite come in handy!!

- Magpye

Ok, decided to try googling some different words to se e what I coudl coem up with. Foudn these interestign sites to read.

http://www.birds-n-garden.com/hummingbirds_facts.html

http://www.hiltonpond.org/ThisWeek040808.html
( this oen really cool cuz it shows remanents of the busg the hummers ate

http://www.nectarartprints.com/hb_food.htm


This is really cool ready. I have oodle s and oodles of spiders. Unles soen gets bigger than the siz e of a quarter I don't kill it cuz they catch and eat alot of bad bugs on the plants and here now i find that all the spider nests that hatch are food for the hummers. Cool.

Didn't quite understand on th one article about a mister for them. Wonder what that is all about?????????

Bill Hilton Jr. of Hilton Pond will be the key note speaker here in west KY next weekend. I've never met him, so this will be fun for me too. There will be other Hummer experts there and several certified banders....there's just over 100 certified Hummingbird banders who are trained to catch and band hummers in the whole US. So this is a very elite crowd.

Yes, I knew that hummers ate many insects...I learned this several years ago at a lecture that I attended.

I'm thinking about taking my digital cam corder....I don't have a digital voice recorder...may have to invest in one.

Last chance guys!!

I'm outlining your questions and will head out around 8 am Sat. (wearing my DG tee shirt of course)

I've got enough for 2 stories and hopefully there will be tons of great pictures.

I'm writing for the Article Of The Day that Dave launched just today...look in the right hand column on your home page.

(tomorrow I'll start off the feature with an article on cowpeas)

Good luck with your meeting on Saturday!

And I will be looking for your article tomorrow and in the future on the Article of the Day! :-)

How was the conference?
Where can we access the article?
I have so many questions, so liitle time.................:)
Let me know about the article.
Lisa

Article # 1 is written and in the line-up...but it will be next month before it runs. I'm working on a second hummer article as we speak...there was so much info that I'll need at least another one to get everything in

It will run in the 'articles' section here at DG...on the right hand side of the screen on your homepage. If you don't use your homepage, you need to. Just click the logo in the picture at the top of this page and you will be taken 'home'. Paulgrow's article about Extension Service is running today. My next article runs on the 19th and it's about gathering and using wild fruits.

You can access previous articles by clicking the 'articles' tab when you click the 'guides and information tab at the top of the homepage too.

starlight, great links. This one of yours is my favorite

http://www.nectarartprints.com/hb_food.htm

and has lots of detailed information about HBs' nutrition.

Yes, I agree---Insecticides used in the yard and garden really are deterrents to a good HB and butterfly population. We have stopped doing most spraying in the past few years and we don't seem to have much of a problem with nuisance bugs. We have many more HBs and BFs here, though.

I have been hunting around for the new DG article on the Hilton Pond Guy, so thanks for the update!

I'll be looking forward to the hummingbird articles. You might post it on this thread for a reminder. I would hate to miss them.

I would love to try and paint a hummer, they are so beautiful!

Oh, I'll keep folks posted as soon as Dave gives me dates.

First Hummingbird article to run 9-16...I'll post again as it gets closer.

Can I access the Hilton Pond Guys website? What is the site?Thanks!!!
Lisa

http://rubythroat.org/

Here you go!

Man.. thats a whole month away. Fudge.. wanna know all about your trip and what ya learned and heard now. LOL

How we gonna surviv e the wait?????? Can ya sneak us soem tibbits Melody? I like crumbs. : ) LOL

Well, I'm working on Hummers #2 now...there was so much info that I'm going to need at LEAST 2 articles to get it all in.

One tidbit that he gave us is that there are more and more hummers venturing out of their traditional ranges. Since the Great Plains are becoming more urbanized and folks are planting gardens, and putting up feeders...other species are becoming more common here in the East...and vice-versa. They still only breed in their designated ranges, but apparently, they like to go exploring after the kids are raised. Leaving a feeder up all winter may produce some interesting surprises, if you are inclined to keep one cleaned and filled for months on end without regular visitors.

Melody,
I took this pic of this little guy this morning. There seems to be something wrong with his beak. Any ideas?
Lisa

Melody, after reading one of your post (or maybe your article?) which referenced a link to a hummer info site, I feel it related to a mishap with my bf cats. I read that using bleach to clean plastic causes a chemical reaction to the plastic and could result in illness or death to a hummer. That very thing actually happened to all seven of my Monarch cats that died while pupating with a hood on their head. They must have "licked" the plastic container/cage as they were making the silk and cremaster. Every one died at the same stage of pupating. I had cleaned out their cage when I saw that they were all starting to roam. :( Your information says to use vinegar instead of bleach to clean plastic feeders. That's what I'll do for both hummer feeders and cat cages for now on.

Deborah

I've used both actually. The bleach chemically neutralizes when the sugar water hits it. If you don't have the sugar water step...like for the cats, then vinegar is best, I'm sure.

As I'm consciously trying to cut down on chemicals, the vinegar seems more earth friendly though. The fewer chemicals we can give the critters, the better off we, and they will be.

The little hummer in the picture seems to have a healed injury. May have even been a birth defect.

Bill told us at the lecture that 99.9% of the time it's best to let nature take it's course. Rescuing one like the spiderweb trapped hummer in the thread from last week will fall in the .1% of the times where you should intervene.

He said that most injuries usually turn out to be fatal, and they are so small that they are difficult to treat. If they have recovered on their own, chances are that they will be fine. He showed pictures of several birds with malformed beaks that seemed to manage fine.

Melody... So glad you posted that tidbit. I was just looking at my feeders yesterday with some friends and we were discussing whether or not to leave them up as the weather been so crazy hot here and if it keeps up we may not even have any cold unitl mid January or february of next year by the looks of it.

I sure would hate pull the feeders in and have somebody not have food. I also have some crazy columbine that never goes to sleep even durign the winter and was blooming through the coldest months and even a hail storm and this is now mid august and the temps been way over in the 100F plus everyday and drought conditions and I stil have columbine s blooming there heads off and the hummers and butterflies going to them.

It only sugar and water and a few minutes everyday few days of cleaning so think I wil leave mine up now and se e what doe s happen.

Melody,
I figured his beak was ok but I just was curious if it was an injury or a birth defect. They fight so hard sometimes it is a wonder they are not hurting each other more! :)
(or maybe they are and I am just not seeing it)I was just going to keep an eye on him and see how he did. He seems fine!! Quite active and so sweet. always looking at me real close!!
Lisa