Look, Mom! A hummingbird!

What better thing to hear than the excitement in your child's voice the first time they see a hummingbird! Few things in this world are as amazing or capture a child's imagination as much as hummingbirds. They're bright, fast, and have as big of a personality as Big Bird himself.

Getting your kids involved with feeding is a great way to teach them about the magical world of hummingbirds - and helps them understand why being kind to animals is important in creating a healthy world. It helps reinforce the connection between them and the natural world, and brings a little of the enchanted into their lives.

Making nectar with your young ones is fun and involves the kids in the feeding process. You can show them how similar they are to hummers - make a batch of nectar (a simple sugar solution: 4 parts water to 1 part sugar) and then make a batch of Kool-Aid. What do you know... the same treat! Yum!

Get your kids excited for hummingbird migration by giving them a character to identify with. Just like Snow White has the seven dwarfs, or the Little Mermaid had Sebastian the crab, there's helpful and humorous Flit the hummingbird in Disney's "Pocahontas".

The 1995 Disney movie "Pocahontas" tells the story of the real-life Powhatan tribe woman who had an infamous romance with Capt. John Smith. Cartoonist Dave Pruiksma animated the hummingbird companion for Pocahontas, and Flit is a fierce protector of his friend. Flit is funny and lively, and his spirited antics with the raccoon Meeko will endear him to your children. After watching you can talk to your kids about Native-American folklore that taught hummingbirds were messengers, giving guidance and awareness.

If you're lucky enough to live near the Desert Museum in Tucson, Arizona or take a trip to this southwest destination your kids can see hummingbirds up close and personal. Other aviaries include the San Diego and Detroit Zoo where several species of hummingbirds fly free and your kids can learn about hummers' amazing lives and bodies. Of course the best education you can share is what lies in your own backyard, when your child runs in the house shouting "Come quick! There's a hummingbird outside"!

Attack of the Squirrels

My dad calls them "fuzzy tailed rats" and although plenty of people enjoy squirrels in their yards, bird-watchers and bird FEEDERS especially get irked with rodent inhabitants. I'm all for squirrels in nature, but I have to admit I have a "not in my backyard" policy on the seed thieves. They taunt my beagle with antagonistic chirps, they do a number on my insulation when they nest in my roof, and they've wreaked havoc on my bird feeders for years. Well not anymore!

There are some great products out there to keep squirrels off your seed feeders, and Squirrel Baffles are one of the best! If your seed feeder is suspended on a pole there are baffles that attach below the feeder that are cone-shaped that squirrels can't climb up. Don't underestimate their ability to jump and attack your feeder from the air though. Squirrels are kamikazes when it comes to free food so make sure your feeder is well away from trees they can climb and launch off of!

For seed feeders that hang from trees, patios, or other shade giving structures there are baffles that hang above the feeder. These Squirrel Guards & Baffles swing and wobble when the squirrels try to land or climb on them - but you have to make sure the baffle is large enough in diameter so squirrels have nothing to hang onto. 20" diameter is the best. I've been surprised many a time to see a squirrel holding on by their farthest toe to a baffle while stretching with all their might to get seed out of my feeders. You'd think Cirque du Soleil would recruit such acrobats!

Squirrel Baffles are great physical blockers (and they help protect your feeder from rain, snow & hail) but when it comes to the "Battle of the Bandits" sometimes chemical warfare is required.

I don't advocate anything toxic or detrimental to the environment - but holistically adding heat to the seed! Squirrels are mammals, and as such they have mouths much like ours. They can taste sweet, sour, salty, bitter... and hot! Coat your bird seed liberally in cayenne pepper before refilling your seed feeders and squirrels will take a bite and be running for water! Birds have completely different digestive systems, and they are not one bit affected by the spicy pepper. It's safe, it's cheap, and it works!

At www.SweetBeak.com have our songbird seed feeders on sale through October. Now is a great time to get those seed feeders out for birds heading south, and with a few squirrel tricks you'll be able to keep your food for hungry aviators! If you're an "early bird" shopper, stock up for the holidays!

Hurricanes and Hummingbirds

When it comes to major weather, you're going to have to do some damage control in your garden. Hurricanes can devastate an area, and with the increasing intensity and frequency of tropical storms and hurricanes it's important to think of the bigger picture and how you can help the native birds and animals survive.

One thing that a hurricane always does is destroy all the flowers on the trees and shrubs this time of year. These are very important hummingbird flowers and hummers depend on them in the Gulf Coast in the late summer/early fall for a lot of their sustenance during migration. The salt water from the hurricane storm surges can also kill a lot of the plants that have flowers the hummingbirds feed from.

We have a friend in Houma, Louisiana (right after Hurricane Gustav roared through) that saw the effects this huge storm had on the local hummingbirds.

Our friend always has a lot of hummingbirds this time of year, because the birds are building up their body weights for their flight to Mexico. He came out after Gustav passed to find his garden trashed, and in his cleanup he rehung his hummingbird feeder. Instantly he was besieged by a swarm of hummingbirds trying to feed even before he got the feeder hung up! At one time he had 15 hummingbirds flying around him, sitting on his arms and hands, begging like paupers for the sweet nectar! The hummingbirds were famished. Our friend went and bought two more feeders and each feeder he has in his yard is being drained daily. Maybe a total of 50 hummingbirds are visiting his feeders daily. Because the hummingbirds have had their natural nectar sources demolished during the storm they really depend on "the kindness of strangers".

Just like Gustav blew through Louisiana, Hurricane Ike has ripped through Galveston and Houston, Texas. Both states are vital areas that hummingbirds travel through on their way back South, and there's no time to waste in getting those feeders out into the garden again! Hummingbirds need your help to stay alive in these wind-torn areas, so fill'er up and get'er done!

What your mom never told you about "The Birds & The Bees"

This isn't the "when a bird and a flower love each other very much" speech... but it is the "there comes a time in every birder's life" one. There are some simple facts about hummingbirds and pollination that you should know, and how bees get involved in the process too. There's no embarrassing diagrams or pamphlets, just some good information and a few things to remember when using a hummingbird feeder.

Some flowers self-pollinate, and some flowers depend on the wind or animals to spread their pollen from one flower to the next. Many flowers that require animals to pollinate (specifically hummingbirds) are bright red and have long tubes that the hummingbird must nuzzle into in order to get nectar. Quite simply, the flowers are red because hummingbird's eyes are particularly sensitive to that color and the long flower tube ensures that the hummingbird's head will touch the flower's stamen where sticky pollen will cling to the hummer's forehead. When the hummingbird moves to the next flower they inadvertently deposit the pollen residue on their head and pollination is complete!

Cartoon depictions of hummingbirds pollinating usually have some showy flower "seducing" the bird to feed from it, and even in nature videos (because hummingbirds fly so quickly), the best way to see their pollination process is through slow-motion. But don't let the camera work fool you into thinking pollination is anything "sexy" or "romantic". Hummingbirds don't know they are pollinating! Birds and insects pollinate flowers involuntarily - they are only in it for the food. Flowers have adapted to encourage visitors to pollinate, and the longer a host flower gets a guest to stick around the better chances pollen will rub off on them. Birds and insects have to WORK and as their reward they get sweet nectar to live on. Nice work if you can get it!

Since insects also pollinate flowers, they too are attracted to the smells and sights of nectar-rich flowers. Bees are the number one pollinators of the insect world, and if you have a hummingbird feeder it's almost guaranteed you'll have some black & yellow visitors! Bees can become pests, and if enough are feeding they can drive hummingbirds away. Remember, they are competing for their dinners and mob rules!

Hummingbird feeders that have feeding ports that mimic natural hummingbird flowers (like the red glass flowers in our bird feeders) typically discourage bees. Only the tiniest can squeeze down the long shafts, and most will give up because they can't fit. Hummingbirds can still use the feeder because their super-long tongues feed from the bottom of the vessel. In other brands and styles where there are open ports or places nectar "drips" out of there is no way to stop bees from accessing the nectar.

They say "the best offense is a good defense" - and if bees are unwelcome at your feeder you're going to need to be a little proactive in getting rid of them. Unlike hummingbirds (which have incredible memory and will visit the same nectar locations year after year), bees are much more nomadic in how they collect nectar. Bee drones go out from the colony and report back with the exact location of food every day. So if some nectar bearing flower is in bloom one week and not the next they don't waste time and energy looking for something that isn't there.

Getting rid of bees is easiest when you MOVE your feeder every day for a week. If you have your feeder hanging in a tree move it to another at least 3 feet away. Then the next day move your feeder to somewhere else. This hide-and-go-seek method really works! Bees lose interest because they think the "flower" is out of season. It's really that simple.

If you have a lot of bees in your area - and they are persistent little buggers - you may have to resort to more creative solutions for your feeders. You can dissuade bees by using bird-friendly options to temporarily reduce the size of the feeding port (remember, bees need to get in flowers to get the nectar and if they can't fit they'll go away). You can use cling film like Saran Wrap or Glad brands to wrap over the flower feeding port, and use a large needle to puncture a hole so the hummer can still get it's tongue down to the nectar but bees can't squeeze through. Only use non-toxic materials, a good rule of thumb is: if you wouldn't put it in your mouth don't put it near hummers!

One of the worst things you can do is put bee traps in your yard. Bees can be pests to birds and humans (I'm very allergic to stings myself), but they are also a very valuable member of the ecosystem! They account for the most pollination in the U.S., pollinating more species of plants than any other animal. Crops for farming and ranching depend on commercial bee hives, and local beekeepers are popping up more and more as a way to keep plant breeds healthy and strong. Many news reports have been following the decline of bee populations and it could spell disaster if we don't protect these tireless pollinators! Our planet needs every bee we have so "Bee Wise and Bee Friendly"!

What goes up must come down

Don't put your hummingbird feeders away just yet! Hummingbirds are on their southern migration and need all the help they can get to get back through the Gulf of Mexico to their winter nests. Ruby-Throat hummingbirds are making their trip from Canadian provinces through the eastern U.S. states and Rufous hummingbirds in the Northwest will be heading for warmer climes too.

Don't worry about your hummingbird feeder "tricking" hummers to stay too long. Hummingbirds migrate south because of changes in the amount of daylight, dimming skies signaling the coming of winter. As days grow short again the amazing southern migration starts - a journey that will take hummingbirds thousands of miles. Many hummingbird plants are in full bloom throughout the southern migration, and these natural nectar resources are crucial for the migrant flyers. Keeping your hummingbird feeders full and regularly maintained in the autumn will give more opportunities and a rich feeding ground for hummers to build up much needed energy for their southern migration. Regular "pit stops" along their route are healthy and beneficial, especially to young flyers!

How long to keep your feeder out depends on where you are on the map. Southern migration unfortunately is not nearly as well documented as the spring migration north, and there are no definitive "bookends" to hummingbird migration. Just when you think you've seen the last hummer of the year, a week later one will whiz by. Although the timeline for the southern migration is broad, there are typical months hummingbirds fly through.

If you live in Canada and New England the Ruby Throat hummingbird southern migration has likely already gone by. Male adults start in mid-July heading down the coast, and females and juveniles follow a few short weeks after. Hummers will fly along the eastern coast of the U.S. over the next months, pausing to "fill their tanks" with energy rich nectar. By the end of September most hummingbirds will have made their trip, but keep your feeders out a couple weeks longer to make sure stragglers have food too. When freezing weather comes make sure you store your feeders inside to keep them from cracking.

Hummingbirds will take a longer route to Mexico during their southern migration and travel down the eastern coastline of Texas. This is possibly due to the hurricane season in the Gulf of Mexico, and if you've seen the threat of Hurricane Gustav who could blame them??? It's been said "The South will rise again", and when it comes to hummingbird populations during the southern migration this is certainly the case!

Some familiar faces and a few new ones may pass your way. Hummingbirds have spectacular memories and their migration routes reflect their knowledge of nectar locations. You may see more hummingbirds in the autumn than you did in the spring because of fledged juveniles making the trip for the first time. Successful nesting grows the hummingbird population, and keeping your feeders out throughout the southern migration helps young birds deal with the stress and demands of flying south.

The Southwest has many hummingbird species that live in the area year round rather than migrating North. If you live in the Southwest, like Arizona and southern California, keep your feeders out even during winter! Just like the Blue Hair migration in these areas, hummingbirds will stick out the winter months near golf course lined deserts. Ah, the life of leisure!