Month: July 2008

Categories
Hummingbird Feeders

Solving the Problem of Bees and Wasps

Hummingbird feeders are the easiest way to attract hummingbirds to your yard. Bees and wasps are a common problem that many people face with their hummingbird feeders. Here are some tips that may help you solve the problem of bees and wasps and therefore be better able to enjoy the hummingbirds that you are trying so hard to attract and enjoy.
 
1. Buy a feeder with bee guards: Many of the hummingbird feeders available on the market today come equipped with plastic guards. "Bee guards" are a screen-like device that fits over the feeder wholes that makes it difficult for the insects to reach the feeding solution. Unfortunately, many of these hummingbird feeders will also be prone to dripping which will lessen the effectiveness of the bee guards. To help solve this problem, you can use the following suggestions:
 
  • Always fill the feeder completely full with cool nectar. The stopper should be inserted and the feeder quickly inverted to avoid any air entering the feeder. Tube feeders operate on a vacuum principle, and the feeder must be filled completely full in order for the vacuum to form!
  • Only hang your feeder in shade or partial shade. The cooler the feeder, the less likely it is to drip.
  •  Make sure to keep the feeder very clean by regularly cleaning the vessel with hot water and a bottle brush. Soap should not be used during cleaning, because its residue may cause your feeder to drip. As an alternative, try periodically using a vinegar rinse to thoroughly clean your feeder and then rinse well with hot water.
  •  As a last resort, the stopper assembly can be placed in very hot water to soften the tube. You can bend it slightly to increase the angle. This will stop dripping, but might make it more difficult for nectar to come down the tube.
  •  If the dripping of this type of feeder is too much for you, then try a top-feeding hummingbird feeder instead.
 2. Try moving the feeder:  Sometimes just moving the feeder, even just a few feet, will trick the insects into thinking that it’s gone and they won’t find it. Another suggestion is to take the feeder down for a day or two until the bees and wasp quit looking for it. Once the feeder is back up again, the hummingbirds will find it again, because the birds don’t give up looking for it as quickly as the insects do. 
 
3. Give the insects their own feeder: Personally, I had never before heard of this prior to doing some research on the Internet, but I have since heard from many people that this is a very effective technique.  This will require the use of separate hummingbird feeders, one for the bees and wasps and one for the hummingbirds. Bees and wasps are more attracted to higher concentrations of sugar, so in their feeder use a nectar ratio of 1 part sugar to 3 parts water.   In the hummingbird’s feeder, use a ratio of 1 part sugar to 5 parts water. This ratio is not as sweet as the normal nectar solution that is made with a ratio of 1 to 4, but the hummingbirds will still drink it and it will be far less attractive to the bees and wasps. It will take a few hours for the bees and wasps to find their own feeder and it should be placed away from the hummingbirds own feeder. 
 
4. Buy a saucer-type Hummingbird feeder:   This type of feeder is usually made of plastic. This type of feeder is far more drip proof because the feeding ports are located in the top, so they’re not as likely to attract insects. Also, the nectar level will be lower and out of reach to the insects, but not out of reach to the hummingbirds because of their long tongues. This type feeder also does better in direct sunlight then other types of feeders.
 
I hope these suggestions will help you solve the frustrating problem of bees and wasp in your hummingbird feeders. If you have any other suggestions on how to solve this problem, please let us know. We want to hear from you and I’m sure anyone who has experienced these problems before would appreciate your advice. Happy hummingbird watching everyone!
 
 
Categories
Hummingbird Food

The Appetite of a Hummingbird

Hummingbirds are very small bird with a large appetite. The amount of nectar that a hummingbird must intake each day is dependent on a number of factors including activity level, air temperature, quality of available resources, and time of year. The hummingbird will require one and a half times its body weight in nectar to meet its daily energy needs.

In their quest for nectar, they will visit 1000 flowers per day and they usually feed between six and eight times in an hour, but each feeding usually last less then 30 seconds in length. The hummingbird can digest nectar very rapidly and efficiently. The nectar will pass entirely through the hummingbird’s digestive system in less than 20 minutes! 

Due to the large amount of fluid a hummingbird will intake each day, a hummingbird’s daily urine output may exceed 80 percent of its body weight, whenever nectar is found to be plentiful.

 According to the San Diego Zoo website, hummingbirds consume between 3.14 and 7.6 calories per day. I don’t know about you but I find that fact absolutely astonishing! Humans are said to consume approximately 3,500 calories per day. If humans had the metabolism of a hummingbird it would be necessary for us to consume approximately 155,000 calories per day. That’s about 77 times as much as most humans eat. The hummingbird’s need to consume such a vast amount of calories is due to their high heart rate and small body size.  
Categories
Hummingbird Videos

Identifying Hummingbirds Video

 

This video is a comprehensive guide that will help you identify hummingbirds. This video is only a sample. If you are interested you can purchase individual videos of every species of hummingbird, more then 110 species. You can obtain the video at the address below:
 
www.hummingbirdsguide.net\DVD HUMMINGBIRDGUIDE.htm
 
What beautiful birds! I hope you enjoy the video as much as I did.
 

 

A High Rate of Hummingbird Fledglings Die

In nature, it is impossible for all animals to survive. It is all about the survival of the fittest. This may seem quite harsh or uncaring, but nevertheless this is reality. This is equally true of hummingbirds and therefore it is impossible for all hummingbirds to survive. 
 
It may shock you, as it did me, to learn that up to three-quarters of a given year’s fledglings are likely to die due to numerous causes. These include the following: predators, disease, accident, problems which occur during migration, or other problems.
 
It is especially unfortunate when a hummingbird dies due through the fault humans, even if it is entirely unintentional and accidental. Examples of this include the following: when a hummingbird flies into a picture window or the family cat kills a hummingbird. 
 
Survival is hard enough for the hummingbird to try and ensure, so we should all do our best to minimize the human-induced mortality of the hummingbird. It is also important to keep in mind that hummingbirds are extremely difficult to rehabilitate and therefore not all that we may attempt to rehabilitate will survive, no matter how hard we try. 

The Ruby-throated Hummingbird: A Protected Species of Migratory Bird

No mater where you might live in the United States, chances are good that your state will probably have a least one species of hummingbird that visits your area of the county. The one exception to this that I know of is Hawaii, because there are absolutely no species of hummingbirds found there. Hawaii is known for have a wide variety of other birds but they do not have any hummingbirds. Why this is so I can’t offer an explanation, but based on the Internet research I have done this has been found to be true, I live in southeast Texas, which is located about 90-100 miles east of Houston, and in the state of Texas alone there are at least 17 different species of hummingbirds. The birds are mostly found in far west or south Texas or along the coast during the winter. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are extremely territorial. They will vigorously defend a feeder or a group of flowers from other hummingbirds, hawk moths, and butterflies.
 
On a personal note, this post was inspired by a friend of mine, Dwight Hunter, from South Dakota who recently asked me what species of hummingbirds are common in that area of the country. At that time, I was uncertain of the answer to his question and I told him that I would look into the matter and get back to him with the answer. Well, Dwight, the answer to your question is the Ruby-throated hummingbird. It is my hope that you can now share this information with your young grandson who loves all types of birds. Anyone else who also reads this information, I hope that you will also find this information interesting, informative and enlightening. After all, it is never too early or late to begin learning to have a love of all things nature.
 
The Ruby-throated hummingbird is a very common species of hummingbird; so many people will likely have the opportunity to see them. Here is what to look for when you are trying to identify the Ruby-throated Hummingbird. The males have metallic green backs, black chins, metallic red throats and white under parts. The females lack the black chins and red throats.
 
Ruby-throated hummingbirds are found throughout the eastern part of Texas and the U.S. and southern Canada. They migrate to Mexico south through Costa Rica for the winter. The Ruby-throated hummingbird must gain critical bodyweight before attempting to cross the Gulf of Mexico. The hummingbirds will nearly double their weight (from about 3.25 grams to 6 grams) before crossing the Gulf of Mexico. A single migration can become a nonstop flight of up to 500 miles over a period of 18 to 22 hours.
 
Many other species of hummingbirds are similar to both the male and female Ruby-throated Hummingbird. The Broad-billed Hummingbird is similar to the male Ruby-throated, but has a rosy-red throat rather than a scarlet or ruby throat patch. Male Ruby-throated Hummingbirds can also be identified by their black face and chin, and their distinctive call notes, and the lack of a wing whistle produced by their wings in flight. Females are similar to a number of other female hummingbirds. The best way to identify the female Ruby-throated Hummingbird from the Calliope Hummingbird and species in the genus Selasphorus is by their lack of rufous on the flanks and in the tail. Anna’s Hummingbirds are larger and have grayer chests, while Costa’s Hummingbirds differ only in subtleties of facial pattern and tail pattern. Black-chinned Hummingbird females are essentially identical, and are not safely identifiable from female Ruby-throated except in the hand. The best way to distinguish the Ruby-throated Hummingbird from all other species of hummingbirds, except Black-chinned Hummingbird, is by their call.
 
These tiny birds eat flower nectar and small insects. Hummingbirds get the protein they need in their diet by eating the small insects and spiders they find in flowers. Red columbine is one of the first food plants that returning Ruby-throated Hummingbirds depend upon during their spring migration northwards.   It is believed by some scientists that as many as 19 species of plants which are found in the eastern United States have co-evolved with hummingbirds. This is believed to be due to the tubular shape of certain flowers and the length and shape of a hummingbird’s bill. The hummingbird laps up nectar by flicking its long, forked tongue deep within a flower at rates up to ten times per second. It forages while hovering airborne, inadvertently collecting pollen on its feathers and bill before darting off to its next meal. Its efficiency as a pollinator is comparable to that of a honey bee.
 
The Ruby-throated Hummingbird has a total estimated population of over 7 million individuals. This species of hummingbird was hunted during the nineteenth century for its beautiful plumage, but the Ruby-throated Hummingbird now enjoys protection from harvest through the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. This act declares unlawful the taking, killing, or possessing of migratory birds. It is also listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna of 1975.
 
The Ruby-throated Hummingbird is a common species of hummingbird which enjoys a large population. This is probably due to the fact it is protected from harvest through the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Through this act and maintaining and protecting habitats and nectar plants along the migration route of the Ruby-throated Hummingbird this species of hummingbird should maintain a healthy population well into the future.