Rfalconcam Forum

Claws Wings & Things: Late hummingbirds in Central Pennsylvania
By MARCUS SCHNECK, The Patriot-News
November 18, 2009, 10:00AM

Question from this week's Claws, Wings & Things column in The Patriot-News:

We still have a hummingbird at our house. When I noticed that it was still around, I left the feeder up, hoping the hummer would leave when the time changed. It is still here, and I don't know whether to take the feeder down in hopes that the bird will fly south or just leave it up until the weather turns really cold. I'm afraid that if I take it down, the bird will starve here, but I would like for it to migrate south. When it comes to the feeder, it stays for a while longer than they did in summer. Its flight motion seems quite normal. Can you advise me on what to do? Brian Ahl, Boiling Springs.

Answer: Maintaining your hummingbird feeders into the fall will not cause the tiny birds to tarry too long before making their migration in advance of the approaching winter.

It just isn't going to happen. Availability of backyard feeders will not cause hummingbirds to change the timing of their migration.

Their initial urge to migrate is triggered by the increasingly shorter daylight hours as fall approaches. It has nothing to do with food availability.

Taking down feeders will not force hummingbirds to leave.

In addition, well into the fall, there's a good chance that some of the hummers hovering at backyard feeders will be migrants from points north on their way to warmer climates.

Leaving feeders in place and keeping them filled will provide a burst of nutrition and energy to birds moving through the area on their southward migration.

Feeders available into the fall also might help some birds that have been sick or injured to regain their strength and their ability to make the migration.

There is nothing but an upside for the hummingbirds in anyone maintaining the nectar feeders just as late as they want through the seasons.

Keep your feeders filled with nectar as long as the hummingbirds continue to use them.

When is the best time to clean out bird boxes? Alice Bender.

Answer: As soon as you place a birdhouse, also called a nestbox, outside and something live visits the interior, the chance for fungus, parasites and more begins.

And, most birds will not reuse the nest inside the nestbox, preferring instead to build anew for each nesting, even if that means building on top of the old nest.

To minimize all those problems, nestboxes should be cleaned at least once each year, and the best time is soon after the birds have finished using them.

Wear a dust mask and rubber gloves to protect yourself from the same things you are trying to clean out of the nestbox.

Remove the old nesting material and use something like a painter scraper or an old butter knife to scrape out anything that's stuck in there. Then scrub the whole nestbox with a solution of one part bleach to nine parts water, and rinse it well with clean water.

Allow it to dry thoroughly before re-closing it.

This is also a good time to check over the nestbox for any repairs that need to be made, such as loose or missing hardware.

If you leave the nestbox in place through the winter, a variety of small songbirds may use to escape low temperatures and nasty precipitation on some winter nights.

However, small rodents like mice and squirrels likely also will make themselves at home and pack the nestbox with their own nesting material, making a second cleaning necessary in late winter.

Leaving the nestbox out for winter use by the wild things is an individual judgment call. I tend to leave my nestboxes in place.