Hummingbirds are migrating big time now, so keep your hummingbird feeders clean and full! Above is a male Ruby-throated Hummingbird, chowing down, watch the video. This is the best time to see hummingbirds. Hummingbird numbers are at peak right now because there are the adults plus the new crop of young hummingbirds from this year. Throughout the East, you will see Ruby-throated Hummingbirds arriving daily at your feeders. They are on their way south, going thousands of miles, down into Central America for the winter, many going across the Gulf of Mexico. Wow! Western Hummingbirds like Rufous, Broad-tailed and others are also migrating.
Migrating hummingbirds eat voraciously, building their fat reserves for their long migratory trip. Keep your feeders clean, cleaning every two days in hot weather, so mold does not build up in the feeder. Fill with fresh nectar solution each time. Put up more than one hummingbird feeder, spacing them widely to reduce competition at each feeder.
Ruby-throated Hummingbird, juvenile male
Watch for males, females, and the young hummingbirds will look like the females, but with pristine feathers and paler edges to their crown feathers, creating a scaled look. Young males may have a few colorful feathers growing in on their throats.
Keep looking and enjoying for soon they will be gone.
3 comments:
When the Hummers start to feed in late summer it is a sure sign that fall is on the way.
You are right on! The Broad-tailed have arrived here in Colorado Springs - but not as many as in the past.
Some people say to take your hummingbird feeders down after Labor Day here in Michigan to incourage them to move on during migration. But really the presence of your hummingbird feeder isn't going to override that call of nature.
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