Say Goodbye to the Snow Birds and Hello to the Birds of Spring!

Today I am hoping to teach you something new about the Feathered Friends we so look forward to seeing each spring. First and Foremost get your Hummingbird and Oriole Feeders out by April 15th. Sometimes they show up that early. Sometimes we don’t see them until closer to May 1st. Every year is different so I put mine out on Tax Day just in case we have any early arrivals. 

Did you know the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird flies 600 miles NONSTOP (about 18-20 hours) across the Gulf of Mexico during Both spring and fall migration? Banding shows that each bird tends to return every year to the same place it hatched, even visiting the same feeders. That is amazing to me!! For a hummer that has just hatched, there is no memory of a past migration, only an urge to put on a lot of weight and fly in a particular direction for a certain amount of time, then look for a good place to spend winter. Once it learns such a route, a bird may retrace it every year as long as it lives. The initial urge is triggered by the shortening length of sunlight as autumn approaches and has nothing to do with temperature or availability of food. In fact, Hummingbirds migrate south at the time of the greatest food abundance. When the bird is fat enough, it migrates. It is not necessary to take down feeders to force hummingbirds to leave, and in the fall all the birds at your feeder are already migrating anyway. If you remove your feeder, birds will just feed elsewhere, but may not bother to return to your yard next year. I recommend continuing to maintain feeders until freezing becomes a problem. Orioles spend their winter in Mexico and Central and South America, where they can find a steady source of insects, fruit, and nectar.