[MDOsprey] Response to Hummingbird Question
Leslie Roslund (Lroslund@bluecrab.org)
Sat, 18 Sep 1999 09:10:38 -0400
Dear Harriette and other Hummer feeders -
Your question of when to stop feeding is an important one that I have
heard debated many times. The two main positions are:
a. Leaving the feeder up after your regulars are gone will offer help to
the stragglers later in the year as they come along.
b. Taking your feeder down by some calendar criterion will avoid keeping
the hummers around longer than they should be staying.
In my opinion, the first position is more defensable. So my choice has
been to keep my feeders fresh for at least two weeks longer than my last
sighting of users being around. (Since I had two young ones out there this
morning, mine will surely stay up for a couple more weeks.)
I have been told that as long as there are some flowers in bloom outside,
hummers can be around. There are lots of flowers still in bloom now, and
lots of reports of hummers. Our feeding helps, but is not the dominant
source of their food. And as for feeders keeping them around too long, the
time for migration of hummers is not determined by presence or absence of
our feeders. Note that the adult birds tend to disappear while our feeders
are filled and fresh.
Most of us have our feeders out in order to enjoy the hummer visits, so
the time for us to stop is when there is no further chance of getting
visits. Similarly, in the spring it is wise to put the feeders out early,
for as soon as any flowers start blooming, we have a chance for the joy of
hummers coming around - and with our feeders in place we can welcome them
appropriately.
Les Roslund
Easton, MD
Bubbling up from 10 inches of rain within 24 hours due to HURRICANE FLOYD