kelly@nntp-server.caltech.edu (Fishhead) (01/06/91)
I've lost the address of who posted about hummers being found dead after the freeze, and found an interesting paragraph to quote from the book "Hummingbird neightbors" put out by the WoodsWorld Hummingbird Society... "When flowers and insects are meager, as after sever frosts, hummingbirds may be forced to rely on feeders. The lives of many Anna's [a type of hummer,] wintering along the Pacific coast were saved by home feeders in mid-December 1972 when unusual, prolonged freezing temperatures killed off plants and insects. The public from central California to northern Washington was alerted by informed publicity about the care and feeding of the downed hummingbirds who appeared dead but were really in a state of torpor and could be revived by warming in cupped hands and immediately feeding them. " WoodsWorld recommends one part sugar to four parts water for the proper mixture as recommended by Kenton C. Lint, Curator of Birds and creator of the walk-through hummingbird exhibit at the San Diego Zoological Garden. Too much sugar is attractive, but may lead to an enlarged liver, and less nutrient intake from their normal food sources of flower nectar. Flower nectar is about 20-25% sugar. WoodWorld also recommends no preservatives or color be added to the food. If you are nursing a sick hummer with no other food source than what you provide, especiallya young one, a food suppliment like the one the San Diego Zoo uses (which is copied by WoodsWorld) is recommended. WoodsWorld sells it under the name "HumPowerFood". Or better yet, get any downed hummers to a local FIsh and Game center or Project wildlife if they can't seem to make it on their own. WoodsWorld's address is(in case you'd like to inquire about their society,): 218 Buena Vista Ave. Santa Cruz, CA 95062 Kelly
jms@brahms.udel.edu (John Milbury-Steen) (04/18/91)
Any bird watchers on the East Coast seen a Ruby throated hummingbird yet? The local garden center in southern Pennsylvania says they were due on April 15, which sounds very early. My nectar feeder is out, but no takers yet. -- | John Milbury-Steen (302)451-2698 jms@sun.acs.udel.edu | | Office of Academic Computing and Instructional Technology | | University of Delaware Newark DE 19716 | | "Intelligence goes senile, repentence lasts forever." |
wybranie@dtrc.dt.navy.mil (Wybraniec) (04/19/91)
In article <20553@brahms.udel.edu> jms@brahms.udel.edu (John Milbury-Steen) writes: >Any bird watchers on the East Coast seen a Ruby throated >hummingbird yet? The local garden center in southern >Pennsylvania says they were due on April 15, which sounds >very early. My nectar feeder is out, but no takers yet. >-- A naturalist kind of calendar my community put out a few years ago had April 15 noted as the day hummingbirds return. I never saw them in *my* yard before June 1. This is Northern Virginia, west of Washington D.C. However, a week ago Monday which would have been April 8, a woman reported to the local Wild Bird Center store that there was a hummer in her yard that day. That would be the Maryland suburbs of D.C. I am going to put my feeder out this weekend and buy a fushcia and some salvia. Suzanne (Northern Virginia)