During the winter months you will have fewer hummingbirds visiting your hummingbird feeders, but this is not to say that the feeders don’t still provide a vital source of nourishment to the birds that visit your feeders. In the winter, you may wish to change your ratio used to make your nectar solution from the usual 4:1 mix to 3:1 to help retard freezing of the nectar solution. Even in the winter, it is not necessary to put anything in the nectar solution other then sugar water.
Month: November 2008
Categories
Hummingbird Love
This short video clip shows a pair of hummingbirds feeding at the same feeder, from the same hole at the same time. The person who filmed this video was holding the feeder in one hand and the camera in the other one. Due to the extremely territorial nature of hummingbirds, I certainly never thought two birds would feed from the same whole at the same time. Did this suprise you too?
Categories
Computer Troubles
Technology is a wonderful thing when it is working properly, but very frustrating whenever it isn’t. That is my situation. My computer has been giving me all kinds of problems recently, it will freeze up in the middle of use, it takes several attempts to reboot successfully and the CD ROM drive won’t read a disk. Each time I use the computer lately I must pray that I will successfully complete the task at hand without encountering another problem. The whole situation makes me want to pull my hair out! You see, I love the computer as long as mine is working properly otherwise I hate it. Can anyone tell that I’m stressed about the whole situation and very frustrated?
As a result, my computer is going to be put into the shop later today. My friend’s grandson has agreed to come get it and work on it. Yea! I have absolutely no idea how long it will take it to get fixed or how long I will be without it as a result, but I know that it must finally be placed in the shop and repaired. Whatever the actual diagnosis, I’m sure my computer will finally be much better off after its visit to the “computer doctor.” My computer will be in the very capable hands of my friend’s grandson because this is what he does for a living. Nevertheless I’m still going to feel very lost without it because I use it so much.
I am sorry that the problems have occurred and must be fixed. The time has come to finally have the problems addressed and fixed. That is why there will not be any further post for the next several days, as I will have no computer access whatsoever. If I had had more notice as to when the “computer doctor” was going to come and get the computer, I would have done several days worth of post in advance but that just wasn’t possible this time. Sorry about that everyone! I will be back posting again as soon as possible. This is Hummingbird signing off until next time.
It may interest you to know, of all bird species, hummingbirds have the largest known relative heart size. The heart represents 2.4 percent of their body weight. This is quite large for such a tiny bird. An active hummingbird can have an incredibly fast heart rate. A rate of 1260 beats per minute was measured in a Blue-throated Hummingbird.
In torpid hummingbirds, the heart rate can drop to 50-180 per minute. This is because the sleep of torpid hummingbirds is a sleep that is as deep as death. According to the book, American Ornithology, written by Alexander Wilson in 1832, torpor is described as follows: "No motion of the lungs could be perceived … the eyes were shut, and, when touched by the finger, [the bird] gave no signs of life or motion."
Hummingbirds are found only in the Americas. The majority of species occur in tropical Central and South America, but several species also breed in temperate areas. Only the Ruby-throated Hummingbird breeds in continental North America and can be found east of the Mississippi River and Great Lakes. The Black-chinned Hummingbird, a close relative of the Ruby-throated Hummingbird and another migrant, is the most widespread and common species in the western United States, while the Rufous Hummingbird is the most widespread species in western Canada.
Most hummingbirds of the U.S. and Canada migrate south in fall to spend the northern winter in Mexico or Central America. A few southern South American species also move to the tropics in the southern winter. A few species are year-round residents in the warmer coastal and interior desert regions. Among these is Anna’s Hummingbird, a common resident from southern California inland to southern Arizona and north to southwestern British Columbia.
The Rufous Hummingbird is one of several species that breed in western North America and are wintering in increasing numbers in the southeastern United States, rather than in tropical Mexico. This believed to be due in part to artificial feeders and winter-blooming gardens, and this may result in the birds having altered internal navigation instincts that could be passed on to their offspring.