In this video Mark Viette’s explains why using many feeders thoughout the garden is a good idea and why he uses clear nectar in his hummingbird feeders. I hope this video will encourage you to have a wide variety of plants and use many hummingbird feeders in your garden. Enjoy the hummingbirds everyone!
Month: September 2008
Here in southeast Texas, prior to the two recent hurricanes, Gustav and Ike, this area was not having a great deal of hummingbird activity. I can’t explain the reason for this. Following each of the recent hurricans, there has been an increase in the amout of hummingbirds seen in the area. Once again, I am unable to explain the reason for this.
Following Hurricane Ike, my boyfriend, Donald, called me, while I was still evacuated from the area, to report that there were may hummingbirds in his parents front yard. Donald’s parents live in Lumberton, Texas and they had not seen many hummingbirds prior to the hurricane. Donald, who is visually impaired, said that he had thought the hummingbirds were bees because of the sound they were making until his mom said that it was hummingbirds not bees making the noise. Apparently, the birds were trying to feed from the nearby hummingbird feeder, which was empty.
Also, I recently saw a video on Youtube that was shot in Orange, Texas and shows some hummingbirds when the wind is truly blowing duing Hurricane Ike. I don’t know who captured the video, but I know that I wouldn’t have been able to do it myself. You see, I hate hurricanes and I want to be as far away from one as possible whenever it is about to strike our area!
Both of these events have caused me to question why there are more hummingbirds around following a hurricane. I myself do not know the answer to this question. Does anyone else out there know the answer to this question? If so, please share the answer wilth us. Thanks. Wondering about this is driving me crazy!
It can often seem like hummingbirds eat non-stop, but this is simply not true. Yes, hummingbirds do have an extremely high metabolic rate, but they do not eat until they are full at every opportunity. So, what determines the amount of nectar that hummingbird needs to eat?
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.
When it comes to selecting a food source, what is most important is the quantity and quality of the nectar which is available. Whenever choosing a flower, the hummingbird will select the flower with the highest nectar output and the richest concentration of sugars, regardless of the shape or color of the flower. Also more important than the color of the flower is how the nectar taste.
During daylight hours, the hummingbird will eat frequently for short periods of time. A hummingbird will feed between 5-8 times per hour with each feeding lasting about 30 seconds in length. At night, the hummingbird will eat as heavily as the nectar supply will allow. The hummingbird may store a third of its weight in nectar to ensure that it will survive its overnight fast while maintaining its normal resting metabolic rate.
This video shows you how to attract hummingbirds and butterflies to your garden by growing the Cardinal Flower.
Have you ever wondered how hummingbirds are affected by hurricanes? Living along the Gulf Coast, in southeast Texas, I know that this is some thing that I have often wondered about myself. Until yesterday, while doing some searching on the Internet, I never knew an answer to this question. What follows is some very interesting and informative information which is written and provided by Mr. Bill Hilton of Hilton Pond. Thanks so much for the very informative insight into this matter.
Hummingbirds and hurricanes have been intertwined for hundreds of thousands of years. When bad weather hits, hummers hunker down as tightly as they can in the most sheltered place they can find, often in dense vegetation on the downwind side of a tree trunk. Their feet are very strong and can hold onto a twig very tightly when the wind blows.
Hummers have very little surface area and probably find it easier to get out of the wind than larger birds do.
The majority of hummingbirds will survive hurricanes over land unscathed–as is shown by folks who have reported hummers feeding heavily when the eye of the hurricane passes over, and by those who have observed them feeding as soon as the storm passes by but when winds are still strong.
Some enthusiasts in hurricane-prone areas secure their feeders with wire or duct tape prior to the advance of a storm so the birds can take sugar water whenever conditions allow. (Be sure to remove the duct tape after the storm, lest hummingbirds get stuck to it.)
All said, hummingbirds are not the delicate little creatures some folks perceive and can survive rough conditions. A far bigger danger than hurricanes over land are unexpected northbound winds in the Gulf of Mexico during migration. A bird that heads out into a hurricane is destined to become barracuda food. Many Ruby-throated Hummingbirds probably succumb to the dangers of long-distance migration, of which hurricanes are a major part.
Somewhere around 70-80% of all young Ruby-throated Hummingbirds produced this year will die before next spring; otherwise we’d be up to our eyebrows in hummingbirds. Keep your feeders clean, enjoy the ones that make it, and don’t worry about those that succumb to the forces of nature.
— NOTE: All pages on the Web site for Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History are permanently archived. The main page has a Search Engine (as does every page on the site). Plug in your search term and you will find the info you seek.
Best wishes,
BILL Hilton, Jr.
York SC
Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History at http://www.hiltonpond.org
"Operation RubyThroat: The Hummingbird Project" at http://www.rubythroat.org
Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History at http://www.hiltonpond.org
"Operation RubyThroat: The Hummingbird Project" at http://www.rubythroat.org