The humming birds know Winter is coming

[Winger Ed.]

The humming birds are starting to migrate.
We have had four that lived here all Summer, but the Fall migration is on!
We've put out extra feeders for the 20 or so that are here tanking up getting ready to go,
(I think) to Mexico for the winter.
I wish the picture was better. It's really cool to see them all buzzing around like a swarm of bees.
There's only 10-11 in the picture out of at least 20 that are here.
It's hard to catch more than about half of them in one picture.


I have a lot more faith in them predicting the coming Winter than those 'wooly bear' caterpillars.
I've seen a bunch of them all squashed on the street.
I figure they aren't smart enough to know if a car is coming, much less Winter.

[45_Colt]

Humming birds are an amazing critter(!). We used to get them around here on a regular basis. Little tiny things that buzz into a window look see. Then gone in a flash.

They use so much energy that they actually go into hibernation every night, when sleeping. Otherwise they would starve within that period of time.

With some luck they may make a come back here. Even the butterfly's have been scarce.

45_Colt

[Randy Bohannon]

Meadowlarks and the Robins have left Wyoming with lots of sign of a early fall, Cottonwoods have color on them.

[Handloader109]

I've had 2 pair here all summer, last year only one. But there have been several more pairs this week come through. Don't stay long, yep, they are heading back south...

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

[HWooldridge]

Ours also left last week. We had somewhere around 20 - but I honestly couldn’t keep count. My wife keeps 4-5 feeders going and there’s usually 3-4 birds at each one.

[Hick]

Our 6 were still here as of this morning (northern Nevada). But they usually leave about this tie-- so we are watching every morning to see if they are still with us. Amazing birds!

[oscarflytyer]

Handful here (very N AL) going nuts lately, espec tonight when I refreshed all 4 feeders. They came in very late here this year. No sings of leaving at this time.

[Big Tom]

Similar here in SW Ohio - we typically have 5-6 in the summer and they are here almost the whole day, filling up and getting ready to leave. Typically, the last days they show up are around September 23.

[DougGuy]

My "regulars" were gone yesterday, they would be there from dawn feeding up but they were conspicuously nowhere to be seen all day. I had two visit the feeder out front yesterday afternoon/evening, and one visit the feeder at the kitchen window this morning. I am thinking these are migrating through.

Central NC here, tucked right up near the VA border on I-85

[atfsux]

If you ever get the bug to really study hummingbirds and want to see as wide a variety of them as possible, bird watchers know the best place in the country for that is a small sleepy place near the Mexico border in Arizona called Portal.

Why? Well, Portal is the closest people population to a geographic oddity at the base of the Chiricahua Mountains where, within 7 miles, there is a variation of altitude and vegetation ranging from 4500 feet in Portal, to over 9700 feet on Chiricahua Peak, not to mention the lower lying desert areas between Portal and the border 40 miles to the south. All of this is smack dab in the middle of the migration route for most birds transiting either north or south, and providing a suitable habitat somewhere within that range of options in that 7 mile radius for nearly any species of bird. As a result, bird watchers and scientists from around the globe gravitate there throughout the year to see as many species in one place as anyone is ever likely to encounter. And of all bird species, this is particularly true of the hummingbirds. There are 16 various hummingbird species to be found there, with three of them being year round residents.

I know all this even though I am not a bird fanatic because my family homesteaded in the area prior to statehood at a place called Hilltop. The old apple orchards on the homestead were converted to a vineyard about 25 years ago. A vineyard called Colibri Vineyard & Winery. For those that remember their high school Spanish classes, colibri means hummingbird.

Because of the variation in altitude and habitat, no matter what time of year you visit, you can find a comfortable temperature to enjoy yourself there.

https://azstateparks.com/arizona-hummingbirds

[FISH4BUGS]

We have 3 hummer feeders and have visitors all summer. I was checking the feeders had one investigate me when I went out the other day. She got into my face about a foot away and buzzed around my head a few times, then went to the feeder about a foot away.
We are down to two female Rubys and I have not seen them yet today. We leave our feeders out until mid October to catch any late stragglers.
Any day now they will be gone....but we will be waiting and watching for them in the spring.
We are in east central NH.

[Rickf1985]

I am in central NJ and we are down to the last two. Every year they hang around until it gets really cool out and then they are gone. All the rest are already gone. Think about these tiny birds flying from the northeast to Mexico and South America!!! Amazing.

[MrWolf]

I am in central NJ and we are down to the last two. Every year they hang around until it gets really cool out and then they are gone. All the rest are already gone. Think about these tiny birds flying from the northeast to Mexico and South America!!! Amazing.

Born and raised in South Plainfield. Don't remember many as a kid there but I know out here I was feeding 3-4. Hard to keep track of as they looked to be all the same family. They let me know when the feeder needed to be refilled. Very fun to watch. I didn't hang it this year. Kinda forgot with everything else.

[waksupi]

Something I thought strange I saw a couple weeks ago while at Tiber Reservoir in central Montana, was thousands of what looked like a grey gull, all flying north in a migratory formation.

[Reg]

Really don’t have many of the little humming birds around here but the little small ducks that come thru first are flying, the corn is drying down and the cottonwoods are getting that dusty look to them. Yup, fall is here.

[Winger Ed.]

had one investigate me when I went out the other day. She got into my face about a foot away and buzzed around my head a few times, .

If ya sit still near a feeder they are used to, wear a red hat or shirt, they'll buzz all around you.
I've never had one actually touch me, but they'll get with a inch or two checking out that 'big red flower'.

[super6]

Checking in from South Carolina (up state) We still have 50-100 hanging out. They will consume a quart a day! They return every year and bring their baby s.

[Daver7]

Just west of Kansas City. We still have a few around. Whats interesting to me is ours don't get along. 2 on a feeder just don't last long. Sometimes one will just hang out to make sure another one doesn't come by.

[Winger Ed.]

Just west of Kansas City. We still have a few around. Whats interesting to me is ours don't get along. 2 on a feeder just don't last long. Sometimes one will just hang out to make sure another one doesn't come by.

They all do that.
Not so much during the migration, but all summer they're constantly chasing each other off the feeders.
They're what we call 'bully birds' when discussing dining arrangements.

[Blkpwdrbuff]

We have a Rose of Sharon tree/bush and since it blossomed out we have hoards of hummingbirds and they like to go into "attack mode" when we walk by it on the sidewalk.