Where Have All the Hummingbirds Gone?

Earlier this week, I reluctantly pulled down my hummingbird feeder. It's been up
for a few months, but I've only ever seen a hummingbird use it once. During the
summer, hummingbirds were frequent visitors to my garden, but they only
expressed interest in the flowers, not the feeder. Pictured above is a favourite
hummingbird plant (they love plants with red, tubular flowers). Unfortunately,
after the plants finished blooming, the hummingbirds stopped coming.

Finally I decided that repeatedly filling a feeder with unwanted sugar solution was
pointless. I brought the feeder inside, phoned my avian-enthusiast partner and
sheepishly told him about the failure of my hummingbird winter operations. During
this conversation, I happened to look outside. There in the spot where the feeder
used to be, was a frantic hummingbird. It buzzed up, down, left, right - apparently
searching for a feeder that should have been there.

So I did have a hummingbird visitor after all, it was just very sneaky! My system
reeled from shock and I raced to restore the feeder to its proper location. I am really
glad that the beautiful creature revealed its self to me that day, otherwise I would have
deprived it of a steady winter supply of nectar.

I learned two valuable lessons from that incident:

1. Just because I can't see nature, doesn't mean it isn't there
2. Have a little faith

The hummingbird was an Anna's Hummingbird, a species which does not migrate 

extensively. It's probably going to spend the winter here, which is why I must keep 

the feeder up consistently (no more backsliding)!

Interestingly, in the winter Anna's Hummingbirds rely on insects to make up the bulk 

of their diet. A steady supply of nectar will be a welcome energy boost, however, 

and will help hummingbirds to survive the harsh winter months.

It's not much of a commitment to keep a feeder hummingbird-ready. I just clean the 

feeder and change the solution every five to six days (to keep it mould-free). That's it. 

The sugar solution is one part sugar (try Rogers Organic Sugar; avoid anything that 

might be contaminated with pesticides or other poisons) to four parts water (once 

again, the cleaner the better).

If you'd like to put up a feeder over the winter months, I'd suggest taking a trip down 

to Wild Birds Unlimited if you're in North Vancouver. They have some great options. 

Good luck!

Thanks for reading; check back on Monday, November 18th for my next post.