Hummers Warming to Climate Change?
February 3rd, 2007
Fellow Feeders,
This has certainly been a winter to give more credibility to global warming. Not that Hurricane Katrina didn’t already give us a wake-up call.
With the changes in weather patterns becoming more noticeable to us humans, I’m curious about what the hummers might think, and how they might be reacting. Has anyone noticed any changes in humminingbirds’ migration patterns? Should we expect them to stay longer in the northern states? Or will their internal clocks stay set to the same schedule, no matter what?
Any thoughts? Observations? Musings?
Happy Feeding,
Chris
Entry Filed under: Hummingbird News
2 Comments Add your own
1. Patty Poehls | July 30th, 2007 at 11:37 am
Hi Chris,
I was wondering that very thing–it seems our hummers over the passed 2-3 years have been returning a little earlier each time. Ergo
I hung my feeder out earlier last year, and had a hummer feeding within minutes…I did not even think there were any around yet! End of april-early May. I typically see them between the 8th & the 12th of May, consistantly. We live about 80 miles north of Toronto Ontario, Canada.
This year I tried it even earlier. I did get migratory hummers. Some would stay for an hour or two, others for 2 days or so. Then off to the Muskokas, I imagine, or even further–to the Northern shores of Lake Huron. (I know because I have family in both aras, & they have Hummers too.)
My own resident hummers returned very sporadically this year-I thought perhaps some had perished–or changed habitat (that may be true for the oldest birds–I’ve only seen a couple of them this year. But the head hauncho hummer I named Baby, & his nearly twin brother Noddy returned in June-something they have not done. Was it too cold last spring? The weather was very erratic–warm one day and cold the next.
Strangely: A young female (forget term for 2nd year,) stayed with her hatchling long after all the rest had flown south last September. Baby left on the 4th along with others, and most were gone by the 7th. The mom & babe stayed right up till September the 28th. I have never seen one here that long-so I left a feeder up in the front, and one in the back for them.And I changed them regularily–twice a week at least. In that time I saw the odd migrant hummer also. But the last of them was the 22nd. They
liked the flowers–I have extensive gardens on just over an acre in the country, and half of the perrenials are hummer favourites. No matter how inviting I make it though, the birds go when they want to. Interestingly, mom & babe were one of the first ones back, this spring & they showed up together!
I often read how fledglings are shewed away, but this is not the case with at least this mom & babe.
Also the hummer I call Baby–he buzzes me all the time–sometimes regularily, sometimes at 2 week intervals & talks to me in hummingbird chatter when I step out on the deck, the porch & even when I am working in the veggie garden!
A question I would like to add to all you hummingbird fanciers like myself–have you seen any strange coloured hummers in your area? It appears we are getting more than the typical beauties–ruby throated hummingbirds. One pair others refer to as
Rhuefus, this year 2 pairs-but the colouring doesn’t seem right. Then I could have sworn I saw a little black one last summer here for a few days? This year, I’ve noticed yellow from 1 or 2 birds as they helicopter away…anyone else have same/similar sitings? Are there some other hummingbirds from other zones moving north & east/central North America?
2. Administrator | August 21st, 2007 at 6:56 pm
Hi Patty,
Nice observations! I can’t imagine any seasonal animal not being affected by a climate change if it’s significant enough of a change. And hummers appear to be so precisely obedient to climate change, meaning the precision of their migration. Your notes certainly give some credence to extention of the summer.
As for different colors of hummers, I haven’t seen any. It would be nice to see more variety, but I don’t expect it in Kentucky. I believe there are Rufouses and Annas in the Western States.
If you visit www.hummingbirds.net, you can see migration charts that show migrations of the various varieties of hummers in the States, and compare them from year to year.
Leave a Comment
Some HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>
Trackback this post | Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed