HUMMINGBIRD SITE OF CANADA - HOME OF JEWEL OF THE NORTH
  • Home
  • Products
  • Product Reviews
  • Migration / Report a Sighting
  • Humming Blog
  • Garden Blog
  • Flowers
  • Hummingbird Flicks
  • Contact
  • Retailer Info.
  • Archives

Humming Blog

Keep the Feeders Up

8/10/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
     Every year the question arises about whether to keep your feeders up, or pull them down to encourage birds to go south.
This year has been more unusual for me that any other year in the past.  Spring was almost nonexistent, while we went from Winter right into Summer.  Many of our perennials had a really late start and only flowered 2 to 3 weeks later than normal, although it worked out perfectly with having many perennials bloom at exactly the time the young hummingbirds were leaving the nest.  Let me tell you, it's incredibly difficult trying to keep an eye on every island of flowers spread out over 1 1/2 acres.  At no point in the day could you walk through the garden, or around the yard, without scaring several hummingbirds out of the clusters of flowers that are growing everywhere.  I'm saying this because normally at this time, many of the perennials are finishing, and the annuals are the only things left in full bloom.  I have 10 hummingbird feeders also spread across the yard.  So right now things are more colorful than you can imagine, and the hummingbird food is so great, that it's only something hummingbirds dream of.  So the question becomes, why aren't the hummingbirds staying in our garden.  Well, the answer is both simple and complex.  Simple answer, they do what they're instructed to do.  The more complex answer simplified is that hummingbirds have a drive and desire and purpose so much greater than their love of nectar.  They were fighting in our garden like their lives depended on it, for days, but by 7:00 AM the next morning half the hummingbirds had cleared out.  That pull is so powerful, the desire is so great, and their purpose is so much bigger than the food they leave behind.  Their lives and the species are 100% dependent on the obedience of their calling.
     I believe the worst thing you could do is pull down feeders while they are in their peak feeding time to fatten up for the long journey south.  Some females have late broods, and some are forced to start over after their nest has been robbed, and this produces young that are oftentimes lagging behind many of the others that have already gone.  So let them feed until their heart's content, and until they get the call to move on.  Otherwise, you're stripping them of a valuable source of food just at the time they they need it most.
Neither one of these birds owned the feeder, but were content to share until the owner got back from chasing another hummingbird.  N.E. of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. August 6th, 2020. 

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    March 2021
    February 2021
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    March 2014
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    November 2012

    Categories

    All
    Annuals
    Canada
    Flowers
    Gardening
    How To Attract Hummingbirds
    How To Attract Hummingbirds In Canada
    Hummingbird Books
    Hummingbird Ebooks
    Hummingbird Guidebook
    Hummingbird Migration
    Hummingbirds
    Indoor Gardening
    Indoor Planting
    Jewel Of The North
    Michael Wiens
    Migration
    Perennials
    Springtime
    Start Your Seeds

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • Products
  • Product Reviews
  • Migration / Report a Sighting
  • Humming Blog
  • Garden Blog
  • Flowers
  • Hummingbird Flicks
  • Contact
  • Retailer Info.
  • Archives