Holy cow, the hummingbirds are already here in central Indiana and we've
been having very cold nights! Is there anything I can do to help out the
little guys besides making sure my feeder is full with fresh food everyday?

Giselle (I'd knit them little ponchos but they won't stay still long enough
to be sized)

In article ,
"\"Fragile Warrior\" Volfie" wrote:

Holy cow, the hummingbirds are already here in central Indiana and we've
been having very cold nights! Is there anything I can do to help out the
little guys besides making sure my feeder is full with fresh food everyday?

If you are inclined to use pesticides to kill aphids, hold off until
insect food sources become more abundant. Hummingbirds love to eat
aphids and easily get sick from ingesting even small amounts of
pesticides.

Giselle (I'd knit them little ponchos but they won't stay still long enough
to be sized)

It wouldn't hurt to leave little pieces of string and cotton and fluffy
stuff stuck on a fence or tree to provide them nest-building materials
if they choose to settle down.

"Mark Herbert" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"\"Fragile Warrior\" Volfie" wrote:

Holy cow, the hummingbirds are already here in central Indiana and we've
been having very cold nights! Is there anything I can do to help out the
little guys besides making sure my feeder is full with fresh food
everyday?

If you are inclined to use pesticides to kill aphids, hold off until
insect food sources become more abundant. Hummingbirds love to eat
aphids and easily get sick from ingesting even small amounts of
pesticides.

Giselle (I'd knit them little ponchos but they won't stay still long
enough
to be sized)

It wouldn't hurt to leave little pieces of string and cotton and fluffy
stuff stuck on a fence or tree to provide them nest-building materials
if they choose to settle down.

Thanks, I'll try that. No pesticides in my yard. What survives, survives
without my help.

Will they be alright at night when they have to nest? It's only getting
into the lower 30s but I worry about them at night. I'd leave a light on
all night as a heat source (like we do in the hen house when it gets real
cold) but I know they wouldn't hang around it anyway.

Giselle (poor little guys -- I guess the last heat wave confused them, too)

In article ,
"\"Fragile Warrior\" Volfie" wrote:

"Mark Herbert" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"\"Fragile Warrior\" Volfie" wrote:

Holy cow, the hummingbirds are already here in central Indiana and we've
been having very cold nights! Is there anything I can do to help out the
little guys besides making sure my feeder is full with fresh food
everyday?

If you are inclined to use pesticides to kill aphids, hold off until
insect food sources become more abundant. Hummingbirds love to eat
aphids and easily get sick from ingesting even small amounts of
pesticides.

Giselle (I'd knit them little ponchos but they won't stay still long
enough
to be sized)

It wouldn't hurt to leave little pieces of string and cotton and fluffy
stuff stuck on a fence or tree to provide them nest-building materials
if they choose to settle down.

Thanks, I'll try that. No pesticides in my yard. What survives, survives
without my help.

Will they be alright at night when they have to nest? It's only getting
into the lower 30s but I worry about them at night. I'd leave a light on
all night as a heat source (like we do in the hen house when it gets real
cold) but I know they wouldn't hang around it anyway.

Giselle (poor little guys -- I guess the last heat wave confused them, too)


They'll be fine! They know what they're doing. If it gets too cold
they'll head back south for a time.

""Fragile Warrior" Volfie" wrote in message
...
Holy cow, the hummingbirds are already here in central Indiana and we've
been having very cold nights! Is there anything I can do to help out the
little guys besides making sure my feeder is full with fresh food
everyday?

Giselle (I'd knit them little ponchos but they won't stay still long
enough
to be sized)

I'd even add to that leave them fluffy stuff by leaving some laundry lint.
(it's fluffy, and would make great liner for nests) birds adore it. I
finally left most of mine in crotches of trees and they tore it up and
carried it all away. I was amazed. made me feel better about the amazing
amount I had accumulated in my laundry cave.
madgardener who wonders now if her hummers are lurking about and estatic
with all the spring flowers that are bursting open up in Fairy
Holler...............

Hi Mad,

I always thought that putting out dryer lint was NOT a good thing to do ...
concerns of dyes and perfumes from our laundry and if the stuff gets wet
it'll just hold water and keep things cold and damp for a while.

I put out my cat's fur (of course he has relinquished it to the brush first)
:-)

Catty One
(aka LeeAnne in another newsgroup life, been ages since I posted here)

"madgardener" wrote in message
...

""Fragile Warrior" Volfie" wrote in message
...
Holy cow, the hummingbirds are already here in central Indiana and we've
been having very cold nights! Is there anything I can do to help out the
little guys besides making sure my feeder is full with fresh food
everyday?

Giselle (I'd knit them little ponchos but they won't stay still long
enough
to be sized)

I'd even add to that leave them fluffy stuff by leaving some laundry
lint.
(it's fluffy, and would make great liner for nests) birds adore it. I
finally left most of mine in crotches of trees and they tore it up and
carried it all away. I was amazed. made me feel better about the amazing
amount I had accumulated in my laundry cave.
madgardener who wonders now if her hummers are lurking about and estatic
with all the spring flowers that are bursting open up in Fairy
Holler...............

"Catty One" wrote in message
...
Hi Mad,

I always thought that putting out dryer lint was NOT a good thing to do
....
concerns of dyes and perfumes from our laundry and if the stuff gets wet
it'll just hold water and keep things cold and damp for a while.

I put out my cat's fur (of course he has relinquished it to the brush
first)
:-)

Catty One
(aka LeeAnne in another newsgroup life, been ages since I posted here)

well, I figure that since most of my lint is washed and only slightly smells
(birds don't have much of a sense of smell, well, SOME birds, since the "if
you handle the baby bird the mother won't save it and it'll die as she
smells you on her baby" is a myth. Yes, vultures, and what not, but since
the mother's feathers are moisture resistant, I figure she's sheltering them
from damp and what not. Never thought of fur, although the picture of Pat
Fish's dog being plucked by the bird for nesting material comes to my
humorous mind's eye. How you doing, LeeAnne? (need to e-mail me so I can
send you a few pictures of flowers that are popping up here in Fairy Holler)

catch me up on things. always good to hear from one of the established
residents of our "neighborhood" g
madgardener

I always see hummingbirds arrive about the same time as apple blossoms.
At least that is how they have behaved for the past 25 years.

Hi,
Just make sure you don't put any red dye in the feeder. They come without it
and it causes soft shells and blindness in the baby birds
Dakotabear1

"Smiles" wrote in message
...
Hi,
Just make sure you don't put any red dye in the feeder. They come without
it and it causes soft shells and blindness in the baby birds
Dakotabear1

Not moi. I make my own nectar with good old sugar and water. Errr... 1:4,
right?

Giselle (well, however I'm doing it, it must be good because there are lots
of little hummers out there today)

"escape" wrote in message
...
On 4 May 2005 14:54:01 -0700, opined:

I always see hummingbirds arrive about the same time as apple blossoms.
At least that is how they have behaved for the past 25 years.

Hummingbirds and most other migratory species on the planet all operate on
a
science called phenology. It's basically when cause and effect occur, not
necessarily a particular date, but a series of events, causes and
conditions.

An example would be (actually this is a very bad example and more myth,
but what
the hell...) a mesquite tree will not put out new growth till all danger
of
frost is gone. Not true, but sort of an example.

Different things happen when light gets longer or shorter, temps higher or
lower, and in the case of this year after having one of the worst
tsunami's in
history, where the earth wobbled, many places where springs are usually
very
warm, have been rather cold. I have no idea, scientifically, if this is
the
cause, but it's been cold as shit here in Texas.

V

I'm new to this area but I thought the date that everyone started putting
out feeders was toward the end of May. In fact, I had thought about putting
out my feeder when it got warm a few weeks ago but I thought I was way too
early.

It's a good thing those little guys know to come and look in the window
until they get your attention. They may not talk but they speak very
clearly.

Giselle

"escape" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 5 May 2005 17:15:23 -0500, "\"Fragile Warrior\" Volfie"
opined:


I'm new to this area but I thought the date that everyone started putting
out feeders was toward the end of May. In fact, I had thought about
putting
out my feeder when it got warm a few weeks ago but I thought I was way too
early.

It's a good thing those little guys know to come and look in the window
until they get your attention. They may not talk but they speak very
clearly.

Giselle


They show up here in Texas around March 15 thru April 1. We put feeders
out
March 1 in case someone shows up, but our garden is full of nectar plants
for
them. They may not talk, but they trill and make a LOT of noise as they
dive
bomb one another day and night. One day I set up the video camera to film
them
at the feeder and I couldn't believe the action! Lots of boys fighting,
chest
out whipping around.

V

Hey, since you watch them a lot, I have a question for you: have you ever
seen a hummingbird with something on its leg that looked like foam? Two
years in a row, I had a hummingbird with something hanging from one leg that
looked and moved like foam -- almost the consistancy of shaving foam or
stiff egg whites. The first year I saw it, I thought about trying to catch
it to see if it was something that the hummer needed help removing but I
never got brave enough to try it. Then I saw the same bird -- or maybe a
different one? -- the next year, too. Is this just some hummingbird faux
pas I don't know about or does my little hummer have some sort of fungus
problem?

Giselle