Hummingbird feeders – when to take them down?
This is a question I get asked all the time and also a question I ask myself. If you go to Articles on the website menu and click, you will see I have written an article about this very thing for everyone in the continental U.S.
But I think the most important thing is to observe your own yard – or if you are working in a park, then observe what is happening in the habitats of the park. If you live in our northern and central states, then take a good look at your perennials and annuals. Once frost has hit them and the flowers are finished, consider leaving your hummingbird feeders up at least 2 more weeks, but actually 4-5 more weeks would be even better. Let me explain.
Hummingbirds eat insects, spiders, and flower nectar. Once frost hits flowers, nectar production is over until the following spring and summer. And once cold weather hits – frost is always a good indicator – insects and spiders are either gone or are hibernating. Cold weather greatly reduces or eliminates hummingbirds’ food. And these colder temperatures often occur during hummingbird migration.
Migration is dangerous for birds. Besides avoiding hazards – like windows – that will kill them instantly as they are flying, they must locate places to forage, drink, and rest. Hummingbirds migrate alone – not in flocks. And that includes juveniles who do not migrate with their nest mates or with their parents. They are all by themselves. ALONE. Keeping your feeders up at least two weeks after the flowers in your yard or park are finished will be a big help to any hummingbirds who are migrating through.
And why do I recommend 4-5 weeks after the flowers are finished? Because many hummingbird females have two nests and the second nest can be late in summer which means both she and any juveniles from that nest will be late in getting started on their long journey. If they are passing through your yard or park in the weeks after that first frost, there will be nothing for them to eat and starvation can occur.
I received this email last week from my friend Barry who lives about 40 miles north of me here in central Illinois:
With regards to the hummingbird feeders, we’ve been taught by several of you experts out there, that we should try to leave the feeders up through at least October. I will keep ours up at least till I don’t see any birds for 5+ days. I have felt really lucky here – being at a new location and seeing one bird one day in early August, putting up a couple feeders and then getting five or more birds in two or three days!! And up and until about early last week, I think that we had around ten birds using our seven feeders during many days. I did learn from a friendly neighbor that stopped in front of my house about three weeks ago, that they also were feeding the hummers – so I know that they (hummers) were probably already in the ‘hood before we got here.
So, since about ten or so days ago, we have not seen any males – and I saw an article last week that said that males typically head south first, then the females usually go, followed by the juveniles. I trust that the juveniles have to follow some adults, or how would they know ‘where to go’??
So our volume of birds is dropping… yesterday, the most that I could confirm was about five.
I know it is hard to understand and believe, but remember that hummingbirds migrate alone. Even the juveniles. Barry is correct about the order. Males leave first, females next, and the juveniles last. Leaving your feeders up about 4-5 weeks after the first frost will help these last few females and juveniles – and probably save their lives. As to Barry’s question about how do the juveniles know where to go if they are alone with no adults to guide them, that is an excellent question that does not have a single answer. There are several theories but much work still needs to be done in order to understand every aspect of migration – and not just hummingbird migration but all migration. We human beings with our first navigating by the sun and stars, then with maps, and now with GPS (and how did we ever navigate without GPS?) struggle to understand that for birds and animals who migrate, they are able to do something with great endurance and accuracy that either we never knew how to do or we seem to have lost the ability to do. GPS is a wonderful advance in science and technology and in my opinion, the people who developed it are geniuses. But for me? I use it – but every time I do, I cannot help but think of what I have lost just for the convenience of not having to think and work out a path for myself.
