Hummingbirds

Text and Photo by Renny S.Gehman

A blur, a whir—a hummingbird! Hummers are back at our Texas feeders after wintering in Mexico. Their arrival is eagerly anticipated and greatly enjoyed—almost everyone gets a thrill when they spot one of these tiny creatures. Here in North Texas that usually happens around April 1st and mine were right on time.  

In our part of Texas the most common hummingbird in our garden is the ruby-throated, although this year I’ve been blessed with a visiting black-chinned male—who was nice enough to perch on a nearby bush long enough for me to see the purple throat which distinguishes it from the other visitors at my window feeder. Although in some lights, ruby throats and black chins can look similar, the most obvious distinguishing mark is their throat color: either red or purple. Both can look black in some lights! Since their females are so similar, I just assume that the female I’m also seeing is actually more than one!

Part of our fascination with hummers happens because of both their small size and swift speed. A hummingbird—any of the 18 species found in the U.S.—is the smallest bird, but can reach speeds equal to geese, accelerating to 60 mph from a standing start in less than three feet! No other species matches their flying skill—they can hover, fly up or down, and also backwards because of their extremely large breast muscles, which move their wings in a figure-8 pattern unique among birds.

With their high energy output, hummingbirds must eat every ten to fifteen minutes—a reason why they’re such regular visitors at our feeders. In fact, because of their energy requirements, hummers go into “torpor” or a reduced energy state at night when their heart beat slows, body temperature drops and they cannot move. But these little birds still use so much energy at rest, it is comparable to the amount a human uses during vigorous exercise.

The best way to help these high-energy flyers is to provide them with multiple food sources. Feeders are one food source humans can provide, but we need to remember some important guidelines:

• Red dye is not necessary—and may actually be harmful!
• Always boil your water.
• Do not use honey—use refined white sugar. Honey promotes dangerous fungal growth.
• Clean your feeders regularly—every few days, or even daily in hot weather—to avoid harmful fungal growth.

For detailed instructions, with amounts and proportions, follow this link to the Audubon Society’s website: http://www.audubon.org/news/how-make-hummingbird-nectar

Besides providing feeders, you can choose garden plants, like sage, honeysuckle and lantana, which attract hummingbirds—and often butterflies, as well. Some suggestions on planting a hummingbird garden are available in the Texas Parks and Wildlife brochure. To access online, follow this link: https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_br_w7000_1173.pdf.

Hummingbirds are fun; I’m never sure if I enjoy their iridescent colors, their acrobatic flying or their territorial squabbles more. They pack a lot of entertainment in a small package—and certainly demonstrate the truth of the familiar adage, Little, but Oh, my!

Ed Note: At Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge, visitors can enjoy Ruby-throated and occasional Black-chinned hummers at the feeder outside the Visitor Center and in the Butterfly Garden!

Hungry Hummers

Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird in the garden at HNWR, by Dick Malnory

The Turk’s Cap blooming in the garden adjacent to the Visitor Center at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge offers hungry Ruby-throated Hummingbirds an alternative to the nectar feeder there. During the warm weather season, the volunteers in the Visitor Center have the added job duty of making nectar and keeping all the feeders filled. Now the nectar consumption is increasing as we find 2 - 3, even  5 hummingbirds swarming the feeder rather than the usual one or two, a sign that their fall migration has begun.

Just keeping the hummingbird feeders available to the birds has been an ongoing struggle for the volunteers this year, as some critter, probably a raccoon has been regularly helping him/herself to the nectar, first pulling the feeder off the pole, then when deterred by a newly installed squirrel baffle, pushing the whole thing -  pole, feeder and all over onto the ground!  We tried bringing the feeders in at night, but then Refuge Manager Kathy Whaley suggested we try hanging a feeder from a beam outside the window.   So one was installed that way yesterday, thanks to Deputy Manager Paul Balkenbush, and hopefully, that problem is solved. Watch and learn!

The feeder is now suspended from an exterior beam of Visitor Center.

The hummingbirds we see are medium to long-distance migrants, according to Cornell Lab of Ornithology.  Most Ruby-throated Hummingbirds spend the winter in Central America, and most get there by flying across the Gulf of Mexico. Some birds stay in North America along the Gulf Coast, parts of the southern Atlantic coast, and at the tip of Florida; these are usually birds from farther north rather than birds that spent the summer there.

Here are some Hummingbirds Facts, from USFWS:

• Hummingbirds are found only in the Americas, which are home to more than 300 different hummingbird species. Most are found only in Central and South America, but Arizona is a hotbed of hummingbird variety, with many Central American species reaching the northern limits of their range there. One species, the rufous hummingbird, summers in southern Alaska.  (Texas Parks and Wildlife notes:  "[Of the] more than 300 species, only 18 are found regularly in the United States. Of these, 9 are common to Texas, and an additional 6 have made accidental appearances in the state.")
• Unique shoulder joints, wing bones, and musculature allow hummingbirds to hover and even fly backward. When hovering, their wings beat about 55 times per second. Inflight, that rises to 75 beats per second or more. Their wingspans range from about 2½ inches for the bumblebee hummingbird, a Central American species seen in Arizona, to 4½ inches for the ruby-throated hummingbird of the Eastern U.S.
• It takes a lot of energy to power all those wing beats.Hummingbirds weigh about a tenth of an ounce – about the same as a U.S. penny – and consume about half that amount of sugar, in the form of flower nectar, every day.
• Hummingbirds often conserve energy by going into a state of torpor on cool summer nights or during unseasonable cold spells. They become motionless, their bodies cold to the touch, but they’ll revive when temperatures rise.
• The Eastern United States’ only breeding hummingbird, the ruby-throated hummingbird, builds a nest the size of a walnut, lined with soft mosses and held together with spider webs. The female lays two pea-sized eggs and tends them alone. The males have multiple mates and begin their long migration to Central America in August, with the females following a few weeks later.

Here are some “Cool Facts” about the Ruby-throated from Cornell Lab of Ornithology's All About Birds:

• ·The extremely short legs of the Ruby-throated Hummingbird prevent it from walking or hopping, allowing it to only shuffle along a perch. However, it can scratch its head and neck by raising its foot up and over its wing.
• Like many birds, hummingbirds have good color vision and can see into the ultraviolet spectrum, which humans can’t see.
• The oldest known Ruby-throated Hummingbird was 9 years 1 month old.

Also from Cornell -  "Ruby-throated Hummingbirds feed on the nectar of red or orange tubular flowers such as trumpet creeper, cardinal flower, honeysuckle, jewelweed, bee-balm, red buckeye and red morning glory, as well as at hummingbird feeders and, sometimes, tree sap. Hummingbirds also catch insects in midair or pull them out of spider webs. Main insect prey includes mosquitoes, gnats, fruit flies, and small bees; also eats spiders. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds sometimes take insects attracted to sap wells or pick small caterpillars and aphids from leaves."

Photo by Bill Buchanan, USFWS

I recently read of a study by two researchers, Bradshaw and Schemske,  that reported finding that the hummer chooses red flowers because the red ones are invisible to bees and therefore can potentially offer more nectar than flowers of other colors.

Youngsters ages 4 - 12 will have the opportunity to "Hobnob with Hummingbirds" when The Refuge Rocks at Hagerman, Saturday, September 16.

Watching Hummingbirds

Are you one of the many fans of hummingbirds?  Do you have a feeder near a window at your home?
Hummingbirds are probably some of the most watched birds, according to Hummingbirds of Texas.

The number one hummer we see is the Ruby-throated Hummingbird.  In the Texas Parks andWildlife Quick Reference to Hummingbirds, the Ruby-throated is described as the only commonly seen hummer in the eastern half of Texas and in the Eastern U. S.

Male Ruby-throated, photographed at Hazel Bazemore by Jesus Moreno

In recent years there have been reports of sightings of Black-chinned Hummingbirds in north Texas. In the Sibley Guide to Birds, the two "species are very similar in all plumages. Males are distinguished by throat color but identification of females requires very close study..." Viewing the throat color is dependent on how light is reflected on the bird, but a behavior check may help distinguish the two, as Sibley states that the Black-chinned pumps its tail frequently when hovering. If you have a photo of a Black-chinned Hummingbird taken in Grayson County, we invite you to post it on the Friends Facebook Page.

Most recently, a volunteer at Hagerman NWR reported a Rufous Hummingbird at her home feeder in western Grayson County. The Rufous is normally a west Texas migrant and seen occasionally on the Texas Gulf Coast.  According to TPWD, the Rufous is the only hummingbird with a rufous (rusty, reddish-brown) back.

Rufous Hummingbird at left, by Sue Abernathy

In the Native Plant and Pollinator Garden adjacent to the Visitor Center at Hagerman National Wildlife  Refuge, hummingibrds are attracted to the red blossoms of Turk's Cap and to the nectar feeders.  Earlier in the season they were feeding at the coral honeysuckle in the Butterfly Garden.  In past presentations at the Refuge, Mark Klym has stated that given a choice of a nectar feeder or a nectar feeder among a garden of blooms attractive to birds, the humming birds is likely to choose the latter.  The home garden can be designed to provide food, water and shelter for theses birds, keeping mind that red is definitely a key in attracting them.  However, coloring the nectar in your feeder is now a no-no as dyes may be harmful to the birds.

Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird feeding  at Turk's Cap, at HNWR, by Dick Malnory

The recommended ratio for making nectar is one part sugar to four parts water. Feeders should be
cleaned every two - three days in this hot weather and refilled.  Hummers also feed on small insects. It is a myth that the presence of feeders will delay or interfere with the fall migration of the hummingbirds.

A Hummingbird Rescue

 By Patricia Carey

The poor hummingbird could see trees just in front of him, and could not understand why he couldn't get to them.  The sound of his bill hitting the glass window was heart-wrenching!

The garage door and the back door were both wide open, but the hummingbird was determined to bore through the glass.  He was flapping as hard as he could, and obviously becoming exhausted.

I decided to cover his window from the other side—surely if he could not see through it, he would look for another way, and see that the doors were open.  Covering the window was no easy task—it was a small window near the ceiling.  I had to get creative: I draped a black blanket around a laundry basket and held it up on the outside of the window.  Success!  I was relieved at the instant cessation of the horrendous sound his bill had been making.  I was sure he would be gone by the time I re-entered the garage.

Oh No!  Apparently, this poor hummingbird’s instinct was to fly straight up!  Now he was hitting against the ceiling of the garage, still flapping furiously, and I worried about him going back to the window.  Out of ideas, I needed reinforcements.

My neighbor rushed over, and my husband came home.  After much discussion about the risks to the exhausted bird, we decided to close the garage door.  I went out and covered the window, and they almost shut the back door leaving just enough light to see the bird.  Obviously confused, the poor hummingbird no longer tried to fly through the ceiling; it just flew at a standstill.  My husband lifted a small piece of wood up to it, and he seemed grateful to land.  Holding our collective breaths, he slowly carried him out the door and set him free at last!

Editor's Note:  The parade of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds at the  Hagerman NWR Visitor Center feeders has slowed down, but leave your feeders out.  It is a myth that providing nectar keeps the hummer from migrating, and those on migration will need all the sustenance they can find for their journey.

Hotfoot It to Hagerman!

After still another blast of winter, it’s time to at least THINK spring at Second Saturday at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge on March 8, when Mark Klym will speak on Hummingbirds - Myth, Magic and Mystery.   Klym will focus on urban myths about hummingbirds, where they might have come from and what mysteries remain surrounding those myths.  The program will begin at 10 am in the Visitor Center at the Refuge.

Klym is both coordinator of the Texas Wildscapes and Texas hummingbird Roundup programs at Texas Parks and Wildlife and Information Specialist for Wildlife Diversity.  He is coauthor of “Hummingbirds of Texas”, editor and publisher of the “Texas Hummer” and the “Eye on Nature” newsletters and editor/author of many other brochures and booklets published by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.   He  will sign books for sale following his program.

THEN - the Nature Photo Club will meet at the Refuge at 12:30 pm, in the Audio Visual Classroom of the FOH Center.  John S. Mead, Blue Lion Photography, will give a presentation on using the popular photo-editing software, Adobe Lightroom.  Visitors are welcome; the club is open to any photographer interested in nature photography, regardless of experience or type of photo equipment, and dues are nominal.  Those who wish to may bring a brown-bag lunch to enjoy during the meeting; drinks and cookies are provided.  Those attending will be asked to complete a short survey related to a Nature Photography Workshops to be given by Trey Neal and scheduled for May 17( there is a $10. fee for this event). For meeting details, contact fohphotoclub@gmail.com. 

• AND – next week – SPRING BREAK  Family Fun!  

• Guided walks, nature videos, twice-daily tram tours, drop-in for nature crafts!  

• See the Friends web calendar for schedule of activities each day, March 10 - 14.  

• A guided walk led by Texas Master Naturalist Jack Chiles is set for 9 am Saturday, March 15, and there will be the regular Saturday and Sunday tram tours, at 2 pm.

These programs are sponsored by Hagerman NWR and the Friends of Hagerman.  They are free of charge, and open to the public.  The Refuge is located at 6465 Refuge Road, Sherman, Texas, 75092.   For more information call the Refuge or see www.friendsofhagerman.com.

Get Set for Second Saturday at Hagerman NWR - March 10

· 8 am, Nature Walk with Dr. Wayne Meyer on one of the trails at the Refuge, weather permitting. Meet at the FOH Center. You may want to bring binoculars, camera, field guides, and dress for the weather.

· 9:30 am - Noon, Red River Seed Bombs owner Carolyn Grissom will be in the Nature Nook in the Visitor Center to teach you how to “guerilla garden”! Seed bombs will be for sale in the Nature Nook.

· 10 am - Noon, Hummingbirds with Mark Klym, Visitor Center. Mark is the coordinator for the Texas Parks and Wildlife hummingbird programs and can help you get ready for the “jewels of the air”. Mark is co-author of Hummingbirds of Texas and will be selling and signing books following his presentation.

· 10 – 11:30 am, the Second Saturday for Youth topic is also Hummingbirds. Reservations are needed for the children’s program; please call the Refuge, 903 786 2826 to make sure there is still space for your child. For ages 4 – 10, with parents accompanying those 6 and under.

· 12:30 pm – Friends of Hagerman Nature Photo Club meeting, in the Classroom of the FOH Center. There will be a presentation on photographing wildflowers, and photo sharing. Bring a bag lunch and make it a day at the Refuge!

Programs listed are free and open to the public, sponsored by Hagerman NWR and the Friends of Hagerman. There are nominal dues for photo club but no charge for visitors.

AND – we need your help! We are collecting empty (and clean) margarine tubs, yogurt cups and similar containers to use to hold the fish-bait we will be distributing at Fishing with Kids, at the Refuge, 9 am –Noon, March 31. When you visit the Refuge between now and March 31, if you can, please bring these items, even one or two from enough people will do the job, and THANKS!! See you at the Refuge.

Photo: Mark Klym at Hummingbird Festival (courtesy photo).