Hummingbirds are one of natures miracles of flight. Here in the East our most common humming bird is the Ruby-throated hummingbird (Archilochus colubris). They are bright emerald green (the males) or a muted green (females) and are about 2-3" in size. The males have a patch of iridescent feathers on their throats for display. Amazingly Ruby-throats weigh about 2-6 g. To give you an idea of how light this is, the standard penny weighs about 2.5 g, so a hummingbird can be about 1-3 pennies in weight! Their wings beat so fast (up to 53x per second) that they make a humming sound. When they fly their wings actually make a figure 8 motion. Check out this slow motion video below.
Ruby-throats winter in Central America, anywhere from Mexico to Panama. They feed primarily on the nectar of flowers and small flying insects. They'll also lick the sap from trees, where sapsuckers have drilled holes, and of course drink sugar water.
The Ruby-throats leave their wintering grounds and follow the blooming of flowers and "nectar" migration north. This can be as early as February or (like this year) as late as April. To prepare for such a journey hummers must put on a lot of body weight, sometimes nearly doubling in mass. They are HUGE eaters, mainly because they have amazingly fast metabolisms. It's estimated that their metabolism is roughly 100x that of an elephant! They can eat up to 1.5-3x their body weight a day. Imagine being a human weighing 150 lbs and eating 1.5 x your body weight a day!
Males are the first to return in Spring, moving north with the flower bloom. Females will follow after. Their journey can take up to two weeks to go from the Mexico to the far North of the Eastern US. Some of them even cross the entire gulf of Mexico (which can take up to 18 hours of constant flying!). Many people like to feed hummingbirds to help them along their long-distance journey. Don't worry, putting up feeders won't keep them from migrating North or South, it's just providing them food to help them along. Studies have shown that their instinct to migrate is too strong to stay in one place (Winter/Summer grounds) too long.
If you want to set up a feeding station for humming birds it can be a great way to watch the birds, teach children about hummers, and even collect some citizen science data to help researchers.
You don't have to spend a lot of money, plastic is fine, it just won't last very long. I tend to like glass ones that multiple holes (with yellow flowers/colors) and multiple perches. I also like larger ones so I don't have to fill the feeder as often. I like this style from Perky Pet for $8. You can also buy red colored glass bottles which are great too. I'm going to talk about red food coloring below, but please know that red food coloring is absolutely horrible for hummers.
If you've got your feeding station all ready then it's time to make the food.
Did you notice that this recipe has NO RED FOOD DYE! This is very important. Do not use red food dye or buy food that has red food dye.
Red dye #40, or Allura Red, is in pre-made foods or the food dye in your cabinets. This dye is not a natural coloring, it's artificial, which for an animal that weighs about the same as a penny and drinks 1-3x its body weight, this can have a serious compounding effect on the bird's body. There are conflicting reports about how serious this effect can be, ranging from malabsorption of food in the gut lining to causing other digestive issues. They do excrete some, and absorb some (If you want to see red-hummingbird poop/waste check out this interesting blog post). Regardless, it's not necessary, and not worth taking the risk. In nature nectar is clear, not colored, and birds still drink it. If you're worried about attracting the hummers try the ideas listed above.
If you're a teacher, or just love science and nature, then you can help researchers track and monitor hummingbird migration. Journey North has great teaching tools and information, as well as free apps, real time maps to see where they're migrating right now, and much more. Check out my previous blog post to learn more.
Scientists not only use citizen science data, but they also band and tag hummingbirds too. A new type of technology uses tiny micro chips strategically placed at feeding feeding stations. Check out this awesome blog article and how they use feeding stations, alligator clips, and copper hoops to weigh and monitor migrating hummers.
Hummingbirds are amazing creatures, and their sheer existence and a miracle of nature. You can enjoy them near your home, and help them on their long migration journey, simply by offering them a bit of sugar water and care.
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