Susan and CT birders,
I do not know of any ruby throated hummingbirds that have not migrated and continue to come to a feeder much past mid October. In rare cases of an rt hum not moving in the fall it was due to illness or injury. Most of the Rt hums seen in October are juveniles from late nestings and are just a bit behind schedule. Day length and cold fronts are basically what trigger migration.
I leave my feeder up for a few reasons, one - to give a helping hand to any stragglers and two - to attract any western hummingbirds passing by. I already have had a rufous hummingbird visit my fall garden one October. I cannot tell you how excited I was when I called Mark Szantyr to come see it!! These days the possibilities of western hummingbirds are getting better, I could see a calliope or broad billed or more! :))))
The western species of hummingbirds that show up at feeders in the fall have migrated to this area. There is much speculation on whether they came directly from the west or moved up the coast from the South. Some keep going and others remain. Hummingbird banding is an effort to understand this migration and movement in hummingbirds in the winter in the U.S.
In the lower 48 where winter hummingbirds are much more numerous they are being captured and re- captured giving valuable information allowing us to track their movements and longevity.
It's really cool stuff.
I recently had a dream that there were western hummingbirds all over my backyard one fall, and I was going crazy calling CT birders to come see them. Saying that I had this huge fallout of hummingbirds from the west during a storm.
:))))) You know you are nuts when you have dreams like that! :)))))
Jayne Amico/Southington
---- Susanne Shrader birdgirrl@comcast.net wrote:
I have a concern about leaving hummingbird feeders
Susan and CT birders,
I do not know of any ruby throated hummingbirds that have not migrated and continue to come to a feeder much past mid October. In rare cases of an rt hum not moving in the fall it was due to illness or injury. Most of the Rt hums seen in October are juveniles from late nestings and are just a bit behind schedule. Day length and cold fronts are basically what trigger migration.
I leave my feeder up for a few reasons, one - to give a helping hand to any stragglers and two - to attract any western hummingbirds passing by. I already have had a rufous hummingbird visit my fall garden one October. I cannot tell you how excited I was when I called Mark Szantyr to come see it!! These days the possibilities of western hummingbirds are getting better, I could see a calliope or broad billed or more! :))))
The western species of hummingbirds that show up at feeders in the fall have migrated to this area. There is much speculation on whether they came directly from the west or moved up the coast from the South. Some keep going and others remain. Hummingbird banding is an effort to understand this migration and movement in hummingbirds in the winter in the U.S.
In the lower 48 where winter hummingbirds are much more numerous they are being captured and re- captured giving valuable information allowing us to track their movements and longevity.
It's really cool stuff.
I recently had a dream that there were western hummingbirds all over my backyard one fall, and I was going crazy calling CT birders to come see them. Saying that I had this huge fallout of hummingbirds from the west during a storm.
:))))) You know you are nuts when you have dreams like that! :)))))
Jayne Amico/Southington
---- Susanne Shrader <birdgirrl@comcast.net> wrote:
> I have a concern about leaving hummingbird feeders
