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Dear Mom Hummingbird Food

How Much Will a Hummingbird Eat?

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I have many very fond memories of sitting outside with my parents and watching the hummingbirds feed.  The hummingbirds would put on quite the aerial show and my mom and I would particularly enjoy watching the hummingbirds fight over which one  was going to be allowed to feed at that moment.  It often seemed like the show would never end because it seemed as if they were constantly feeding.  I have since learned that this is a very common misconception that many people have, so I thought in today’s post I would examine exactly what determines how much a hummingbird will eat.

We were always amazed at just how often the hummingbirds would eat.  We often wondered if it was possible for a hummingbird to overeat.  I have since discovered that a hummingbird knows the exact amount of food it needs at any given time of day.  The exact amount of nectar that a hummingbird must intake varies from day to day and is dependent on a number of factors:  the birds activity level, the quality of the resources available, the time of year, and air temperature.

During the daylight hours a hummingbird will eat frequently for brief periods of time.  This happens between 5 and 8 times per hour with each feeding lasting about 30 seconds in length.  At night a hummingbird will eat as heavily as the food supply will allow and store up to 1/3 of its body weight to help ensure that it will survive though the night.

Apparently mom, our fears that the hummingbirds could possibly overeat were quite misguided.  Isn’t it neat to know that nature has ways of helping to determine exactly how much food the hummingbird needs to eat in order to survive?

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Dear Mom

A Big Milestone

No matter what day it is mom, I think of you and miss you each and every single day.  Today was no different, but today you were not just on my mind because I was missing you and wishing you and wishing you were here but because something special and important occurred that I would have loved to share with you.  Today marked the first time I was ever interviewed on the subject of hummingbirds.  I was to do a phone interview and share my knowledge of hummingbirds with others. 

You and I always shared a common fascination and interest in the hummingbirds.  There were so many times that we would be outside sitting on the back porch watching the hummingbirds with such amazement and utter fascination and enjoyment.   At that time, I didn’t have the knowledge of hummingbirds that do now to share with you or others.   How I wish that you were still here for me to share with you the knowledge and information that I have since gained though my time of discovering all about the amazing creature known as the hummingbird.  I know that you would have loved to hear all the information that I was able to share with people on the subject of hummingbirds.

Every creature in nature plays some of role in nature.  You would be asking what is the hummingbird’s role? Well, I now know the answer to that question.  The hummingbird has two very important purposes within nature.  One vital role that the hummingbird serves is as a pollinator, because many types of plants and tress would not be able to reproduce without the aid of the hummingbird.  Also hummingbirds serve to transport resources among tropical and temperate ecosystems that are located thousands of miles apart.

I remember you often wondering why only certain hummingbirds had the brightly colored throat feathers.  Well, I now know that is only the male hummingbirds that have these bright throat feathers.  These feathers serve two very important purposes:  to help the male attract a female and to help them defend their territory from other bird.  The females are attracted by the feathers while other males are repelled by it.  The male will use their feathers as part of their territorial displays.

These are just a few of the topics covered during today’s interview.  While I can’t share my knowledge of hummingbirds with you personally, I’m proud to say that I will soon be able to share today’s interview with others.  Once the recording is available, I will share with all of you how and where to your copy.

Thanks for letting me share this milestone with you.  Getting to this point has been a long time goal and dream and so this day is very special to me.  I look forward to continuing to grow in my knowledge of hummingbirds and sharing it with you.  Here’s to the feature and a world of endless possibilities!

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Dear Mom

The Extermination and Makeover

Well, I’m finally back up and running once again.  Sorry for the long period without any new post but it was completely unavoidable and beyond my control.  Let me explain.

Because of work that needed to be completed, I was without Internet access for quite sometime.  Also, this down time was used to help me do some much needed "spring" cleaning and making over of my home.  Things look  absolutely fabulous and I now have so much less clutter.  Yea!  I am trying hard to reform my habit of being a pack rat and holding on to things I really have no use for. 

 To all who read this blog, thank you for stopping by and please visit the site often.  Please forgive my long absence from posting but it couldn’t be helped and I wanted to explain why it occurred. 

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Hummingbird Videos

BTA Hummingbirds

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This video contains some general information about hummingbirds and it also addresses some common hummingbird myths.

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Hummingbird Videos

Hummingbird Release

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This video shows the release of  several rescued hummingbirds.  This is something that not too many people ever have the opportunity to do.  Most of the hummingbirds were quite eager to be released, but one wasn’t and it remained behind, at least temporarily.