Hummingbirds, migration, drought, and the importance of feeding hummingbirds in autumn.

Best Hummingbird Nectar Recipe: 1 cup of white cane sugar dissolved in 4 cups water.

This is an important time of year for feeding hummingbirds -- a time that people don't always think about since the summer is coming to an end. With the southern migration of hummingbirds starting, it is very important to have feeders ready with lots of fresh nectar for them to load up on. It not only helps them build up their body weight for their long journey back to their winter homes (the ruby-throated travels all the way back to the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico -- the ultimate snowbird!), it also proves that you will be a dependable feeding station for them next year when they come back North. Hummingbirds come back to the same gardens each year, so why not show them now that you are the best place to spend the summer!

Keep the nectar fresh -- even if you don't see a lot of hummingbirds feeding. The fresher the nectar, the longer they will stay and feed and the more likely they are to come back to you next year. (I recommend changing your nectar every 3-4 days in warm weather...well, in any type of weather, this is really the ideal. One week max in cooler weather.

Lastly, one other comment. Since it has been incredibly dry in some areas this summer, there have not been as many flowers in bloom this year to supply nectar for hummingbirds. Feeders are supplying most of the available nectar in some areas. So, please keep your feeders full of FRESH nectar. They will remember you next year for it!

Below is video of another PARASOL hummingbird feeder this week. They are hungry!

Hamlet the Hummingbird

To be, or not to be--that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And by opposing end them. To die, to sleep--
No more--and by a sleep to say we end
The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to. 'Tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep--
To sleep--perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub,
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause. There's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life.

Shakespeare may seem a little heavy-handed, but Hamlet's most famous soliloquy seems to me the perfect description of hummingbirds' sleep - the phenomenal state of torpor.

First, there are a couple physical traits of hummers that you'll need to know to understand the evolutionary brilliance of torpor.

1. Hummingbirds have enormously demanding metabolisms - they must eat from two to three times their body weights every day! Imagine the US deficit counter ticking away our trillions of dollars of debt and this would be similar to a hummingbird's life calorie counter.

2. Hummingbirds don't have the downy feathers common in most other larger birds. Their lack of insulation means hummers lose a large amount of their body heat, needlessly sapping away energy necessary for survival.

To compensate for these challenges, hummingbirds have evolved a special sleep state called torpor, lowering their metabolic rate by as much as 95%! Essentially hummers become hypothermic when they sleep, lowering their internal thermostat to lower their energy consumption. Torpid hummingbirds use 50 times less energy than when they are awake.

When hummingbirds are torpid their body temperature drops so dramatically that for all intents and purposes they appear death-like. Heart rate slows, breathing is shallow, hummers nest motionless like they are frozen in time. Waking up from torpor takes almost a half hour as the hummer slowly starts revving up its engine for another day of foraging. The bird begins to shiver as its heart starts pumping faster, the heat generated by its small vibrating body starting to warm it up.

Through torpor hummingbirds find "what dreams may come" and make it through cold nights to "shuffle off this mortal coil".

"I am the greatest..."

Look at the determination and fire in this little guy's eyes... the Rufous hummingbird is like a little Muhammad Ali. Not nearly a heavy-weight (Rufous hummers weigh only about 2-3 grams for males, 4-5 grams for females) these tiny tykes can rope-a-dope any other hummer.
Rufous hummingbirds are notoriously nectar-hogs, chasing off much larger hummingbirds from feeders and defending their territory with absolute confidence. You gotta love 'em. They got gumption!
Rufous hummingbirds may just be my favorite species, they have spirit to spare and are a marvel to watch in action! Their name comes from their coloring, rufous means reddish. Most of them have rusty red on their backs and a bright red-yellow iridescent gorget (throat), although there are Rufous that are green-backed too. In sunlight they look like streaks of copper as they fly by - they are gorgeous!
The Rufous migrates from Mexico all the way into Alaska, usually along mountain ranges like the Sierra Madres and Rocky Mountains. By body size, the Rufous has the longest migration of any bird in the world - out traveling larger birds almost 150% more! Since hummingbirds are such small creatures they will break their migration into segments to refill on much needed nectar and insects to make the great distances. This is great for us Rufous fans because it offers the chance to see these out-fighters duke it out at our feeders!
Because the Rufous likes plants usually found at higher mountain elevations and cooler temps the most densely populated area of their northern migration is in the Pacific Northwest. Folks in Portland, Seattle and Vancouver are most familiar with the red-feathered Rufous hummers. Their trip to the Last Frontier often means Rufous will be observed for four to eight weeks this time of year.