Should i take down hummingbird feeders

Continue to do this up until you see the last hummer in your yard disappear long after the last sighting. Few days won't be enough and nor would a week or so, as a full month of keeping up your hummingbird feeder would allow you to be absolutely sure, and in turn is a safe solution for fazing out hummingbird feeders.

Because you haven't seen the last hummer for a long time, that is not to say its gone as you may of just missed it. I therefore recommend you to continue to feed these late-to-migrate hummingbirds until weeks or a month has past. Only then can you be sure there's no more hummers remaining, especially as we head into late October. Similarly, these same hummers still might be birds that decide not to migrate at all, so if you are in the vicinity of the Gulf Coast - then continue to feed hummers the whole time, as they continue to rely on feeders more in the south, if they remain.

Whilst hummingbirds continue to stay late into the fall in your yard, do continue to feed these birds despite others telling you not to. People do believe that to continue feeding hummers, it only encourages them to stay longer. While feeders are convenient, this doesn't stop hummers migrating south, and that is south for the winter remember. Hummingbirds, much like other migrating birds have it buried into their brains when to migrate, due to the change in season.

To continue feeding these late stayers has nothing to do with you - only with the late to migrate hummers personal choice. Hummers don't all flock together, nor should they disappear with others; its possible lonesome hummers are simply not ready to migrate, when they can put it off for a few more weeks. In this time, hummers continue to use your hummingbird feeder as a convenience, or else they will simply use other feeders close by, or resort to nectar plants in the wild.

You cannot encourage a longer stay for hummingbirds in your yard by simply keeping the feeders topped up while not taking them down. Never take down hummingbird feeders to discourage this, as hummers will go in their own time, which is usually not far away. Other than knowing to take down hummingbird feeders in your yard come mid-August to mid-September as hummers have migrated, reasons could be something else entirely.

Keep your feeders up until early November. These hummingbirds such as the Rufous are more cold tolerant but require a greater commitment from you. If you are surprised with one, you might need to keep your nectar warm for them.

I would like you to urge people to leave a feeder or 2 up year round. You may get a "winter hummer" as we did 5 years ago. I live in the south, the middle of the state of Alabama. I have kept feeders up year round for the last 10 years. Usually 3 feeders. If it is going to freeze, and we don't get too many freezing days here in the south, I will rig up a brooder light over the feeders.

Same kind that is used for baby chicks. It keeps the air warm around the feeders and keeps them from freezing. We had our first and only winter hummer 5 years ago. It showed up November 31st and stayed thru December 16th. We saw him everyday but one.

I contacted the late Bob Sargent and sent him photos of our bird. Bob and his wife Martha are hummer experts and capture and band winter hummers all along the south.

Bob and Martha showed up at my home 3 days later with a cage and a banding kit. We removed all feeders but one and put it in the trap cage. The hummer flew around it awhile but eventually went inside and Bob released the trap door that he was holding open with fishing line.

He sat the cage on a little table and reached in and grasped the little hummer. He immediately went to examining the bird. He said we had a 6 month old Rufus hummingbird that had migrated from the northwest, probably from Alaska, Oregon or Washington. It's amazing that this bird had flown over miles and ending up in my yard in Calera, Alabama. The consensus seems to be that sugar water for hummingbirds , if prepared in the ratio shown in the recipe, provides much-welcome extra energy.

The main diet for hummingbirds is insects—lots of them—and nectar from flowering plants. Any sugar water we provide is just dessert. Their natural diet is what sustains them.

One prominent factor in their timing is the shortening of the days and less intense sunlight we get once summer starts winding down. If our feeders or anything else somehow tricked them into staying in a cold climate or delaying their journey, it would indeed be perilous. They will still migrate at the right time, with or without your feeders. See the Resources section to grab your copy of the Hummingbird Care Tips.

While the result is a noticeable decrease at hummingbird feeders, rare hummingbirds can sometimes use a helping hand in heading on their way to warmer skies. We at the U. Fish and Wildlife Service want to provide some food for thought when it comes to taking in your hummingbird feeders.

Hummingbird feeders are popular and usually busy with activity from early spring through late summer. Here in the midwest, they are most commonly visited by ruby-throated hummingbirds , but fall migration can bring some unusual birds, including the rufous hummingbird. In fact, the rufous hummingbird has been appearing in increasing numbers in the midwest in recent years, which is well outside of its normal range.

Rufous hummingbirds are able to survive the cold for short periods by lowering their metabolism. This includes the use of heat lamps to keep feeders open.