NFR: Hummingbirds and Feeders

[marianne]

My hummingbird feeders have been overtaken by yellow jackets, and I was concerned that my hummers wouldn't get the nectar they need for their Fall migration across the Gulf of Mexico. The Pres. of the Hummer/Bird Study Group replied to me that "the hummers don't need our sugar water, anyway, so don't make a fuss over how important we are to them". If this is so, I wondered why do we put out feeders, and here's his delighful reply:

"Marianne

You have been wrong all these years. Humans have been in the Americas only about 15,000 years or so. Hummingbirds have been here for uncountable, UNCOUNTABLE generations. Put a hummer in a greenhouse with only sugar water feeders and it will die in a couple of weeks. Put it in a greenhouse with lots of tiny arthropods (soft-bodied insects) and it can live to a ripe old age. Only in the past 60 or 70 years has hummer feeders come into the lives of humans and hummers. They did quite well before the first humans were here.

We feed hummers because we enjoy watching them. We plant flowers for their beauty and because the hummers will feed on those flowers as well as the tiny bugs that are attracted to them.

If we took down all the feeders in the Americas today, the hummers would not suffer one iota.

Hummingbirds, like most all wildlife, are opportunists. The nectar from flowers or our feeders is a quick energy source for their insect hunting lifestyle. Just relax and enjoy the little bug eaters.

Sorry to bust you bubble. Mix your sugar water 4 to 1, no food coloring and no bought additives. They do not need our help with their nutrition.

Love You

Bob"

I thought you might enjoy reading his reply, and here's a link to their web site.

http://www.hummingbirdsplus.org/

 

[Marg CDN]

I feed them only in winter because they stay here and for the most part, the flowers and insects

do not. Of course, perhaps they stay because we feed them and we feed them because we enjoy seeing them in winter. There seem to be differing opinions on feeding birds in the winter.

I agree with not feeding wild animals in summer.

My `pet` squirrel would get a peanut every winter morning, from my fingers, at exactly 10:30, when he would arrive at the back door. In the summer he got nothing and seemed to be okay with that. He would still follow me around, sit beside me while I gardened, join us for evening drinks on the deck, bring his girlfriend and never asked for anything. But winter once again, brought the back-door behaviour. My chipmunk got fed in the summer because she packed it all away for winter (and because she was so cute).

I think animals should have to survive with what is available to them naturally, although lack of water can be a serious problem. And I`ll be buying a new Hummingbird feeder as soon as the last of the flowers disappear. I enjoy their visits. And so does my cat.