Hummingbird feeders will not alter migration

This the time of year when I begin to get questions about hummingbird feeders. Some callers are worried they might entice hummingbirds to stay too long if feeders are available after the middle of September. In fact, if a bird is ready to migrate, there is nothing you can do to keep it in your yard. There is actually a term, “zugunruhe”, which is used to describe the nervous, anxious activity of birds just prior to departure.

Hummingbirds, like all migratory species, will realize when the time has come to leave. However, if the bird is not physiologically prepared to go, it simply cannot depart. A good analogy might be if you wanted to go to the beach but you didn’t have any gasoline, you couldn’t start your trip until your tank was filled.

A hummingbird will not begin migration until it has an ample supply of stored fatty tissue. If a bird is still visiting your feeder at the end of September, it is because he does not have the metabolic resources for the arduous journey ahead. You are actually helping the straggler by providing a steady source of food. Leave the feeders up and enjoy the birds.

I always keep at least one feeder up through the end of December. The normal departure date for the ruby-throated hummingbird is late September, but I have had birds in my yard as late as Oct. 30. Of course, what I’m really waiting for is one of the rare western vagrants that have been turning up in the east with increasing regularity over the past 10 years.

Since 1995, we have had 16 records of wintering hummingbirds in the Lynchburg area. All but two were probably rufous hummingbirds, which is the most likely western species to show up in Virginia. In November 2007, a black-chinned hummingbird appeared at a feeder in Lake Vista and remained until January 2008. In October, a calliope hummingbird visited a feeder in Boonsboro for nearly four months.

Leave at least one feeder out, and if you see a hummingbird after the end of October, please contact me. As the weather turns cooler, you will not have to replace the nectar more than once a week. In all probability, you will not see any hummingbirds after mid-October. However, if you take your feeder in, I can guarantee that you will never see one of those rare winter vagrants at your house.

News and Notes
Sunday was a “red-letter” day for Mark Johnson and me. Like many members of the Lynchburg Bird Club, we have been working since the first of the year to find as many bird species as possible in Lynchburg and the three surrounding counties. Five of us were birding in Amherst County, and we found a marsh wren, which was No. 200 for the two of us. We have only five previous records for this species, and the most recent sighting was in 1988.

- Dalmas, a naturalist, writes a weekly column for The News & Advance. Readers may e-mail her at .