Date: 09/27/2012

Number: 4

Yes! We are still seeing female Hummingbirds. They are still enjoying our feeders. Very territorial, always chasing other females or juveniles away. We see them from early morning until almost barely visable in the evening. A note on Hypothermia and cold food! The weather has been very cold here for the last week at night....so as a precaution for Hypothermia, we have removed (pushed in) the perches on all the feeders. Otherwise, they drink the frigid drink early in the morning and cannot tolerate it and become imobilized until they can warm up again. Our resident bird lady advised us to do this several years ago when one of our Hummers was seen hanging upside down from a feeder, (after drinking the cold food) and then it fell to the ground. She advised us to pick it up and take it inside the house, and, even hold it in our hands until it warmed up, and then release it when it started to fly around and revive itself. We actually made a little cage for it with a box and some chicken wire till it revived. We did this and it really taught us a lesson about our little Hummer friends. So whenever the weather starts to turn cold at night, 40's or below, we dismantle the perches. The explaination being that if they drink the cold liquid while beating their wings, their metabolism stays high and they will NOT suffer from Hypothermia. But, if they are sitting at the feeder and drink the cold liquid, their tiny bodies will become too cold and they will become immobilized. Hope this helps people protect our tiny friends.

Fairfield, IA

Latitude: 41 Longitude: -91.9

Observed by: Sharon
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