Re: Hummingbird Feeder

Dear Diane,
     I loved your comments on hummingbirds.  My friend in Sebastopol, 
California tells me how all summer long she has been out in her garden daily 
watering with a hose and how the hummers come along and take turns skimming 
thru the top of the spray, with one particular guy always leading the pack.  
I have never had a feeder as I don't think I am nuturing enough to keep up 
the routine long-term but I do love watching and hearing the hummers in my 
yard...I even have my husband saying "tsk tsk tsk" just like they do.
Anne


>From: "Diane" <otterpt@macn.bc.ca>
>Reply-To: otterpt@macn.bc.ca
>To: "Paul Harrar" <paul@nevco.k12.ca.us>,   "Medit-Plants" 
><Medit-Plants@ucdavis.edu>
>Subject: Re: Hummingbird Feeder
>Date: Fri, 10 Nov 2000 22:45:38 -0800
>
>Greetings, Paul.
>
>There is no doubt that feeders cause some problems but I
>think they do increase the survival rate.  When the early
>birds arrive here in March, it is often before the red
>flowering currant is out (their main early food source here)
>and before much else is available.  By the time the main
>wave of birds appears, the currant is in full bloom as
>nature intended.
>
>Many birds arrived early two years ago after the
>El Nino storms down south drove them out ahead of schedule.
>I have about 200 locations reporting to me as we track their
>return to Vancouver Island and time and again, the birds
>will go directly to where the feeder hung last year, whether
>it is there or not.
>
>Something they appreciate in my garden is an old-fashioned
>early columbine from several generations of my family's
>gardens - I keep looking for a proper name for it but have
>never seen it in my extensive botanical library - we call it
>Grannies' Bonnets.  It is self-seeded everywhere in white,
>pink, lilac and purple - kind of dumpy almost double
>flowers.  They just love it to start the season off with
>(later, I love the mounds of turquoise foliage).  All of the
>many fuschias later are their number-one favourites.
>
>Someone mentioned roses - it is usually an immature bird
>that approaches a rose, from all directions, trying to find
>some nectar - there is none!  They are attracted by some
>flowers and check to see if they have nectar.  I have a
>climbing red rose, "Blaze", that stretches up through a
>25-foot Magnolia grandiflora.  It blooms as the first
>fledgings appear and fools them every year.
>
>Hummingbirds will take advantage of feeders for various
>reasons in a well-stocked garden but never feed exclusively
>from the feeders.  The males guard feeders, not as a food
>source, but because they attract the females who return a
>week or two later than the males.  The females use them as a
>quick supply of energy while gathering insects for the young
>nestlings who need protein to grow - good reason to attend
>to the feeder during nesting.  To stop filling it at this
>time would be akin to closing the grocery store just after
>your house is built!  Immatures find feeders a ready source
>of food on the hazardous first days on their own.
>Hummingbirds don't feed exclusively from feeders at
>any time.
>
>I do believe, as Paul says, that feeders that are not placed
>strategically do increase aggressiveness in the males.  It
>is a good idea to make sure that feeders are out of
>birds-eye view of each other.  The other point is that no
>matter how well-stocked your garden is or how many feeders
>you have, nothing stops these little birds from starting out
>on their solitary journeys southward again - it is not
>necessary to wean them by removing feeders (or cutting
>flowers?).
>
>Many of our beneficial garden insects are tiny, like
>parasitic wasps, syrphid flies etc., so tiny-flowered plants
>like thyme, mints, dill, Queen Anne's lace, assure a healthy
>population of them.  Tiny flying insects are also food for
>tiny birds.  When you see the hummingbirds flying across
>your garden in an erratic fashion, they are catching them on
>the wing.
>
>In Mediterranean climates, splashing water or fine spray
>during the hot, dry period is most appreciated for bathing
>and reduction of mites - unless you have a large open body
>of fresh water nearby where hummingbirds can skim the
>surface without breaking their flight.  (They don't go in
>birdbaths.)
>
>I leave the 5-6 foot stalks of the autumn-flowering Anemones
>right outside the window by my computer.  The seedheads are
>protected under the eave from winter rains and remain round
>pom-poms until spring, when they burst and spill out masses
>of soft white puffs of down.  I can then enjoy watching the
>females gathering the down to line their nests, giving me a
>more accurate timing on nesting and fledging, second
>nestings,etc.  They even know to tear open a tight seedhead
>to make the down puff out of it.
>
>Well, I guess this is enough on hummingbirds!
>
>Diane Pertson
>Vancouver Island
>
>
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Paul Harrar" <paul@nevco.k12.ca.us>
>
>
> > I grew up feeding hummingbirds in the S.F. Bay Area and
>continued doing
> > it here in the Sierra Foothills until two years ago. It
>was fun. In
> > recent years, however, I have been increasingly aware of
>the hummingbird
> > health/nutrition problems Diane has discussed - using
>various bad sweet
> > substances and not having sterile feeders, etc. These
>issues, combined
> > with my observations that feeders seemed to increase
>aggressive behavior
> > (fighting), has led me to stop feeding hummingbirds in
>feeders and to
> > plant more hummingbird-friendly plants. As much as a
>feeder can help
> > these exquisite birds with their substantial caloric needs
>and provide a
> > fun, convenient, way of observing hummingbirds, I've
>concluded that
> > people who have hummingbird feeders are like park visitors
>who feed
> > bears or chipmunks. It's an artificial act of nature
>orchestrated for
> > human benefit, more than animal benefit. The longterm
>consequences of
> > feeding wild animals can be distressing, but we generally
>don't know
> > about these consequences. Since we can't easily keep track
>of individual
> > magratory animals, ignorance is bliss...
> >
> > So, since this is a Medit-Plant discussion group, I'd like
>to encourage
> > listers to gradually abandon their feeders and grow
>hummingbird-friendly
> > plants. You probably are doing the latter already. I think
>Diane hinted
> > that feeders are problematic, but I strongly feel we need
>to be more
> > responsible about our "care" of wild birds. With lots of
>mint family
> > plants and native plants in my garden, I have just as many
>hummingbirds
> > as when the feeder was hanging nearby. With many more
>places to poke
> > their tiny tongues, there seems to be more cooperation and
>patience and
> > less fighting. (Hummingbird fighting can be quite
>vicious.) There's less
> > sticky mess on my window and deck and fewer insect
>problems. I don't
> > have to worry about bacterial issues or weening them off
>in the early
> > winter (so they fly to warmer climes). And, maybe most
>importantly, I'm
> > observing the birds in their habitat and noticing all
>kinds of behaviors
> > not seen at the feeder, like hummingbirds chasing bees
>away from flowers
> > and standoffs with praying mantises, etc.
> >
> > Why don't we discuss our favorite "hummingbird magnet"
>plants instead of
> > sugar recipes? Just trying to be environmentally
>responsible...
> >
> > Paul Harrar
> > Nevada City, California
> > Sunset Zone 7
> > 2,700 ft.
> >
> >
> >
> > Diane wrote:
> >
> > > Karen,
> > >
> > > NOTHING but boiled white granulated sugar and water
>should
> > > be provided in feeders.  The Koolaid contains food
>colouring
> > > (at the least) and the chemicals that constitute the
> > > artificial flavouring.  In such a tiny creature, one can
> > > only marvel that they can fly away after consuming it.
> > > White sugar in a 20-25% solution most nearly duplicates
>the
> > > nectar of flowers.  Flower nectar is colourless and does
>not
> > > contain chemicals or other sugars besides glucose
>although
> > > it may contain proteins from insects and pollen.
> > >
> > > There is a farm near here that uses blueberry pancake
>syprup
> > > in their feeders - "the birds love it" they say.  I
>think
> > > blueberry pancake syrup is probably entirely
>artificial - if
> > > it contains blueberries, the sugar would be fructose,
>not
> > > the glucose these birds require.  When you realize that
> > > hummingbirds can only sustain their high-energy output
>for a
> > > maximum of 12-15 minutes without feeding, the feeders
>draw
> > > them like moths to a flame.  They eat other things as
>well
> > > like small flying insects and tree sap.
> > >
> > > Banding of birds here after their journey from Central
> > > America to Vancouver Island and as far north as Alaska,
>and
> > > again being caught and studied after their return south,
>is
> > > showing some detrimental effects from what human beings
>put
> > > in all those feeders along the way.  Granted, the
>feeders do
> > > increase the survival rate of these little birds but
>studies
> > > are showing infertility and hardening of the liver.
> > >
> > > Please tell everyone you can that ONLY white granulated
> > > sugar and water (boiled) in scrupulously clean feeders
>is
> > > the only acceptable substitute for flower nectar and the
> > > well-being of these birds.
> > >
> > > Diane Pertson
> > >
> > > Subject: Re: Hummingbird Feeder
> > >
> > > > My uncle has lived in the Adirondack National Park
>forest
> > > preserve in upstate
> > > > New York since the 60's and has always provided a
>Koolaid
> > > (Hawaian Punch flavor)
> > > > stand for his hummingbirds.  I suppose it resembles a
> > > hamster water tube.  The
> > > > birds flit in and out in seconds to drink the "dew.'
>Do
> > > you have some
> > > > information as to why this shouldn't be done?  Is the
> > > sugar harmful?   The
> > > > hummingbirds seem to love it.
> > > > Karen Vavourakis
> > > >
> >
>
>
>
>
>
>

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