Had some really cold nights lately and it amazes me that the hummingbirds make it through these cold spells. Not so much how they react to the weather but where the food comes from. ( photo / image / picture from Kildale's Garden )
Kildale, is that an Anna Hummingbird? Wonderful photo. Last year at the beginning of November, I was standing at the kitchen sink and happened to look up and to my surprise, out the window was a hummingbird at the feeder I hadn't taken down yet. So I googled a few things and found that primarily, some of the Rufous Hummingbirds have been tracked migrating east instead of going to Mexico. Long story short...the gentleman in charge of birds at the Knoxville zoo came out and banded the hummer, the bird stayed around for a month and then went on his way and I got a hands on lesson on a different species of hummingbird. It was so different to see a hummingbird in the cold. I've been watching this year but so far, no Rufous....sometimes the same ones come back to the same location, they say. It's still not determine why some hummers are altering their migration routes.
What I don't understand, apart from where they find food, is how something so tiny can survive such severe weather conditions.
Yes this is an Anna's. Here is a picture from a previous winter. Now that is what I call cold. ( photo / image / picture from Kildale's Garden )
Not having Hummingbirds here i am amazed to see them appearing in cold weather,..i always presumed they would head off to warmer climates.
