For those of you living in the northern states, February may seem like a strange time to be thinking about hummingbirds, but residents of Florida and the Gulf States know that these tiny intercontinental travelers first start reappearing then.
After wintering in Mexico and Central America they are going to be hungry by the time they reach our shores – very hungry!, especially those who have just completed the 20 hour, 450 mile non-stop trip across the Gulf of Mexico. They go on an eating binge before they make the flight, increasing their body weight from 25 and 40 percent. Normally they eat between 3 and 5 times an hour, just to maintain their weight and stay alive. By the time they arrive here they will have used up that surplus of stored energy and be more than ready to eat again.
The first to arrive will be those who spend the summer in the southern states where the flowers they depend on for survival are already in bloom. During the next few months they will keep coming, not in waves, but one at a time. Hummingbirds do not migrate in flocks. They are solitary flyers. If you look up at the right time and have excellent vision, you will see them flying low, at about treetop level, stopping frequently to feed. The last to arrive will be those who spend the summer in the northernmost states and Canada.
By May they will have returned to all their summer homes throughout North America, usually returning to the same gardens and feeders they left in the fall, when their autumn migration began. Hummingbirds who survive their first precarious year have a life span of between 3 and 4 years, so you can expect to see your old friends returning year after year.
The expansion of civilization into urban areas has reduced the hummingbirds feeding grounds, so it is important for those of us who have a garden area, or space to hang a hummingbird feeder, to hang a feeder and plant the right flowers in anticipation of their return.
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