Winter Hummingbirds

Many folks east of the Mississippi River enjoy Ruby-throated hummingbirds from mid-April to mid-October but did you know that a hummingbird might visit for a brief time or even spend the winter in your yard?? Since 1990 hummingbird banders in the east have banded a variety of western hummingbirds. Here in Tennessee there have been over 315 to date.

SEAR would like to invite you leave a feeder up all winter placing it where you can observe and easily maintain it. Perhaps outside the window where you eat breakfast in the morning or where you first observe the weather for any given day or outside a window where you eat supper or look last thing. Partially fill your feeder with a mixture of the standard 1 part white table sugar and 4 parts water. Please remember NO RED DYE or red food coloring. You can leave it up overnight or bring it in at dark and hang it back out at first light. Sugar water at a 4:1 ratio has a freezing point of 27 degrees so unless you get a string of days below that temperature it will only get slushy and not freeze solid. Feeders should be maintained and nectar changed every 3-4 days, so if you do not have a winter bird just barely fill to avoid waste. However if you DO get a visitor contact me immediately by text – 931-206-3517 or email me routledges@bellsouth.net and we will advise you on ‘best practices’ for these birds. Plus we’ll seek permission to come band your winter bird if you’ll allow us. Remember it is your choice and whether or not you allow us to come, we still very much want to hear about your rare special visitor.

These winter hummingbirds are not lost birds. They often demonstrate great site fidelity and spend the entire winter in one location. Some return to winter at the same home year after year and are considered “family members”. These western winter hummingbirds are cold hardy and if at any point they can’t “make a living” in your yard they will migrate to a location where they can survive.

Ongoing collaboration between winter hummingbird hosts and researchers are shedding light on the behavior of vagrant birds once written off as lost and doomed. Not only are these hummingbirds much tougher and better oriented than previously assumed, but their migratory behavior is turning out to be far more flexible than even experts would have imagined! Each individual winter hummingbird adds to our understanding of the species.

So if you see a hummingbird at your feeder or in your yard between November 1st and March 15th please contact your nearest hummingbird bander and report that bird to them. If you State is not listed below contact us and we’ll put you in contact with them. In doing so, you will not only help advance winter hummingbird research but have the distinct pleasure of being a winter hummingbird host.

If you see a hummingbird at your feeder or in your yard between November 1st and March 15th please contact the nearest hummingbird bander and report that bird to them.  If you don’t see your State listed, contact us routledges@bellsouth.net and we’ll put you in touch with your State’s winter bander.  Please note this is not a comprehensive list but only a representation of a few of the many devoted hummingbird banders.