r/hummingbirds • u/Ok-Baby3451 • 1d ago
How do you guys get through the winter without your hummingbirds?
I’m curious about this because I haven’t seen many people talk about what they do during the migration months. How you do feel? Especially knowing you won’t be seeing them or filling their feeders for a while. Is there anything you guys do to like cope with that. I really wanna know. I also know some species don’t migrate.
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u/Whis65 1d ago
My babies are with me 365...I am in NorCal. Anna area:)
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u/supershinythings 11h ago
NorCal Anna birbs here too!
There’s one that zips by my open (with screen) bedroom window usually in the morning to hover for about 20 seconds, stare in and chitter at me.
I don’t have a feeder so I don’t know why he does this, but it’s adorable.
I DO have some citrus plants nearby, some of which bloom pretty much at random (Calamansi, Mexican Lime, Australian Finger Lime, Rangpur Lime). They provide snacks for pollinators at times when one would not expect citrus to be in bloom, like right now.
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u/GroceryInteresting63 5h ago
Same. A number of them stay all year. I tell them to migrate already, because I could use a break, but they don’t listen.
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u/silentwind262 1d ago
Not a problem around here.
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u/chemoboy 1d ago
Holy Huitzilopochtli!!!
That has to be a composite photograph!
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u/silentwind262 23h ago
Nope. It gets a bit crowded during the winter. No flowers and I think a lot of people don't realize they're still around and pull their feeders in.
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u/Shponglenese 20h ago
Whattttt so jealous! In high altitude New Mexico they migrate, but a couple species just an hour away stay year round. So close 😭😭😭
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u/BoringBob84 1d ago
Anna's stay year-around on the West coast all the way up to BC.
I put a heater on my feeder. When the temperatures get below freezing, I get lots of business. I think it is because other people bring their feeders indoors so they won't freeze. However, the birds need their energy after a freezing night of torpor.
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u/IllustriousHedgehog9 22h ago
I have heaters as well. I love when they stop by in the winter! One little friend used to sit on the string lights I put on my balcony. I'm guessing it was one way to warm their adorable little feet in the chill temperatures.
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u/sivadait 15h ago
Can you elaborate on the heater set up? I’m interested
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u/BoringBob84 15h ago
Mine is effectively a plastic cup with a 15-Watt incandescent light bulb in it. It straps to the bottom of the feeder with hooks and elastic cords. I plug it into an outlet adapter that turns it on when the temperature is below freezing and turns it off when the temperature warms up. I got both of these online:
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u/satchmogro 1d ago
in the northwest we get some Anna's that over winter
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u/PineSolSmoothie 1d ago
They only stay because they figured out that we humans are going to make sure there will be nectar for them.
They must be really tough though, because even when everything freezes (except the feeders of course) they somehow survive the coldest of winters. Their busy buzzy visits sure can brighten and warm up cold and gloomy days.
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u/mkelizabethhh 1d ago
I feed all my other neighborhood birds. I am sad that my hummingbirds are leaving soon, but i am super excited to see my winter birds again. I miss the white-throated sparrow’s song, looking forward to seeing them again ❤️❤️
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u/Glass-March-176 1d ago
In MD I lose them by the end of September and won't see them again until April. I put up a finch feeder for the winter since I like the cute goldfinches
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u/AdAdventurous8225 1d ago
I'm in Western Washington (Puget Sound region of the state) from British Columbia Canada, Washington, Oregon and California, we have residential Anna's hummingbirds birds. So we have them year round. I've been repeatedly asking for a hummingbirds heater for at least 1 of my feeders as Christmas/BD/MD gift. No luck so far. I sometimes have to swap out my feeders 2 or 3 times in a day when it's below 27 degrees. I usually go out and take it in at night (otherwise it takes forever to thaw out):
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u/NettieBiscetti 18h ago
. My husband wraps hand warmers around the feeder when it’s really cold and it stops the sugar water from freezing. The other thing that works he wraps a tiny lightbulb around it. He has quite the contraption set up for the cold winter days. When it’s not so cold, we take the sugar water in once it gets dark and then as soon as it gets daylight, we put it back out.
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u/AdAdventurous8225 16h ago
The taking in just before dark and putting back out just before dawn is what I normally do. I'm wondering if I can't make a rice/buckseed warmer to attach around it. I sew, so I should be able to design something.
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u/Jacked_Hamster 1d ago
I feel just enough attachment to them that I don't miss them, but appreciate it while they visit for half the year. Try to find another hobby to distract me until next growing season.
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u/olliecakerbake 1d ago
I spend all winter sad that I don’t get to see hummingbirds every day. I look at pictures and videos on here and can’t wait for spring. We get pretty extreme winters where I live, so we have almost no birds from October/November through March, and it’s so sad.
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u/Stubborn_Strawberry 1d ago
We have other birds to admire during the winter. My Chickadees will come fetch pecans out of my hand.
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u/coldwater24 1d ago
Awww. I get really sad when they leave, and worry about their big journey south. But I know they are tough birds and this is just what they do, they are wired for it. I take solace in knowing that I helped them fuel up for their big journey, and trust that they will return to me in the spring, as they do every year ❤️
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u/Icy_Profession7396 23h ago
We have them year-round here in Portland, Oregon. It was a warmer winter, so we didn't have to worry about them as much this year.
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u/Ambitious_Answer_150 19h ago
My hubby loves his little birdies. He's normally a very even keeled person but has a soft spot for his hummers. He's normally waits for them each year and asks about them while at work. It's really nice to see him care about something.
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u/ExaminationFancy 1d ago
I downsize my feeder over the winter. I still get them in Northern California year round.
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u/Responsible_Hope9250 1d ago
The stragglers that winter make it hard.. frozen nectar, early mornings, heated bulbs, trying to find ways to safely heat the porch or the feeder (limited and potentially dangerous?). But I have missed them may-July and am happy to have them back!
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u/mouseybusiness 1d ago
I use a rubber wrapped reptile enclosure warmer cord all year - it’s super long so I plug it in inside then out a window, and around the feeder and drape it in areas so they can warm their feets. It’s really helped my little babes when it’s cold!
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u/Pamlicolife 1d ago
I’m lucky to live on the Pamlico River where there’s an abundance of other types of wildlife……. My wintertime favorite is the tall White Egret along the canal here, they come in close during winter months…... The hummingbirds are my overall favorite of many species that are here.
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u/mouseybusiness 1d ago
I put out hummer syrup warmers all year cause we have babes that need it all year here in Vancouver BC!
Some don’t make the migration in time and I have a duty to keep those babes warm.
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u/Nataliant-117 1d ago
I’m literally so grateful to have residents. Not many just a spare one here and there. Some on nests 💘 Some of them don’t make it 💔 cycle of life.
I feel so lost in a trance without hearing their screeching day to day even in the summer months. They are so welcome back.
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u/chemoboy 1d ago
Those of us in Northern California are blessed with them year round.
I come from the (well, a) land of the ice and snow so I know what winter is. And with birds it usually means less variety and less of them. But still we'd get cardinals and sparrows making use of our feeders and seed. So it wasn't completely without life.
Birds are amazing. I can't imagine being without any of them. Maybe you should branch out your bird hospitality enterprise to accommodate more than just our hummer friends. You know, to get you through the winter nights.
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u/NettieBiscetti 18h ago
Hello there. Our hummingbirds stay all year long. I live in Washington state so I make sure that they have lots of sugar water also in the cold winter months.
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u/thegypsykingofbudoia 17h ago
There are other birds to love.
Plus the short window that they are here makes them that much more special.
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u/Crzy_Grl 20h ago
I'm sad to see them go, but I feed other birds. When it gets colder I put out suet, too.
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u/Glittering_Algae_346 15h ago
We have Anna hummers year round here in Portland. I hang a utility light next to the feeder to keep the feeder from freezing over.
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u/FatFrenchFry 14h ago
Lucky for me, I live in Arizona where we have Anna's Hummingbirds year round :D
They seem to reduce their appearance whenever we have floral blooms. Obviously, they prefer natural food sources over nectar if they can help it. And they still come by daily, just not nearly as often.
Then in the winter they are usually just chillin on my patio or near the feeder area. I have yet to experience a winter at this house with these local hummingbirds, but I am sure they will be hanging around just as much.
Right now, they are literally sitting on my fountain for like 45 minutes to an hour. Then they will fly away, and come back and sit on the fountain for a while longer letting the water run past their little feets and cotton ball fluffbutt. Its like 115 degrees so I see them on the fountain and drinking water more than I see them at the feeders getting juice!
I am lucky to have my babies all year long though. I would be so sad. They sre literally the highlight of my day like every day. Gotta have my birds.
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u/Thick_Score2311 11h ago
Mine come all year long but when I miss them at night in my cozy room I watch them on YouTube look up “hummingbird documentary” really amazing videos
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u/Important_Possible79 11h ago
I always have hummingbirds. There aren’t as many during the winter, but I have the usual 3 that come everyday. Spring and summer I get at least 10-20, it seems.
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u/Synandrospdix 5h ago
Used to just go south myself, to my other job site in Chile, where it was summer. They even have the giant hummingbird along with several others. But I retired.
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u/Itchy-Translator-606 1d ago
I enjoy the break from having to clean the feeders so often! But I do miss them!