Hi Barry! My apologies for not answering sooner. Cleon and I spent a few days in Kansas City and decided to leave our laptops at home - give our eyes a rest! You live here in Illinois and most expert birders seem to agree our hummingbirds arrive about April 30th. To be sure that you have your feeders out for migrants that may have left a bit early - or caught a good tail wind! - I would recommend putting your feeders out about April 15th. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are one of the species that have changed their migration patterns in that for at least the last 20 years, they have pushed their wintering grounds from right along the Gulf of Mexico coast about 200 miles north. Some are now wintering in the central parts of our southern states. This is a change. It is March 19th as I write this, but as I look around my garden - which does have plants for hummingbirds - none of them have even broken ground, so are several months away from flowering. I have been working outside and insects are few and far between. Since hummingbirds have pushed their wintering grounds north of their traditional wintering grounds, what would prevent them from also leaving those areas earlier? Arrive here earlier? And the ones that have wintered in the central plarts of our southern states have less miles to migrate - could that cause them to arrive earlier? And arriving here in early April - exhausted and hungry - what would they eat? From my poiint of view, even though that could be almost a month from today, there would still not be alot available for them - flower nectar and insects. So I have decided to put my feeders out the first week in April and see what happens. It does cost money to replenish their sugar water every three days, but for me, it is worth it if I can save the life of one migrating hummingbird. The pleasure they bring Cleon and me - watching their feisty behavior all spring and summer - is worth the price of a bag of sugar. Linda
P.S. For those of you who do not live in central Illinois - for more information on dates of hummingbird arrivals in spring and departures in fall, the recipe for the sugar water, how to maintain hummingbird feeders, and plants to attract hummingbirds in your part of the country, click on this link Hummingbirds – Gardens and Feeders
Hi Barry! My apologies for not answering sooner. Cleon and I spent a few days in Kansas City and decided to leave our laptops at home - give our eyes a rest! You live here in Illinois and most expert birders seem to agree our hummingbirds arrive about April 30th. To be sure that you have your feeders out for migrants that may have left a bit early - or caught a good tail wind! - I would recommend putting your feeders out about April 15th. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are one of the species that have changed their migration patterns in that for at least the last 20 years, they have pushed their wintering grounds from right along the Gulf of Mexico coast about 200 miles north. Some are now wintering in the central parts of our southern states. This is a change. It is March 19th as I write this, but as I look around my garden - which does have plants for hummingbirds - none of them have even broken ground, so are several months away from flowering. I have been working outside and insects are few and far between. Since hummingbirds have pushed their wintering grounds north of their traditional wintering grounds, what would prevent them from also leaving those areas earlier? Arrive here earlier? And the ones that have wintered in the central plarts of our southern states have less miles to migrate - could that cause them to arrive earlier? And arriving here in early April - exhausted and hungry - what would they eat? From my poiint of view, even though that could be almost a month from today, there would still not be alot available for them - flower nectar and insects. So I have decided to put my feeders out the first week in April and see what happens. It does cost money to replenish their sugar water every three days, but for me, it is worth it if I can save the life of one migrating hummingbird. The pleasure they bring Cleon and me - watching their feisty behavior all spring and summer - is worth the price of a bag of sugar. Linda
P.S. For those of you who do not live in central Illinois - for more information on dates of hummingbird arrivals in spring and departures in fall, the recipe for the sugar water, how to maintain hummingbird feeders, and plants to attract hummingbirds in your part of the country, click on this link Hummingbirds – Gardens and Feeders
