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.