Scores of Georgia homeowners apparently are heeding advice to keep a nectar-filled hummingbird feeder up all year in case one of the tiny birds wants to pay a winter visit.
“We appreciate folks keeping their feeders up,” said Karen Theodorou of the Georgia Hummer Study Group. “We have had over 100 reports (of winter hummingbird sightings) so far and are still counting.”
She and colleague Julia Elliott spent most of last weekend banding hummingbirds that homeowners reported from around the state. Another colleague, Rusty Trump, was banding hummers on the Georgia coast.
Georgia’s sightings this winter include five species — rufous, calliope, black-chinned, broad-tailed and ruby-throated hummingbirds.
The ruby throat, of course, is the state’s only native summer-nesting hummingbird. It migrates to tropical Mexico and Central America for the winter and returns in the spring to nest. Each year, however, a handful of reports trickle in about ruby throats showing up at feeders in Georgia during the winter — probably stragglers that did not make the migration. (Contrary to some people’s opinion, studies show that feeding birds during the fall and winter does not deter them from migrating.)
The four non-native hummingbird species seen in Georgia this winter are denizens of western states. Of those, the rufous is by far our most common winter visitor. Ornithologists, in fact, have considered listing Georgia as part of the bird’s natural winter range.
Russell and Whit Wright, who live in Pickens County, have been extra lucky this winter: Two hummingbird species showed up in their yard at the same time — a broad-tailed and a rufous. “It helps that we have four hummingbird feeders in our yard this winter,” Russell said.
The broad-tailed, he said, “is the boss of the yard, so he pretty much will have the run of the feeder he chooses.” The broad-tailed also is one of the rarer winter species to visit Georgia over the years.
Altogether, a dozen hummingbird species have been reported in the state during the past half-century. So, with much of this winter still left, there’s a good chance that some other species — besides those already reported — will appear soon at a feeder near you.
If you have a winter hummingbird, report it at: http://www.gahummer.org.
IN THE SKY: The moon will be full tonight — the "Cold Moon," as the Cherokee peoples called this month's full moon, said David Dundee, Tellus Science Museum astronomer. Venus rises out of the east about an hour before sunrise. Mars is low in the southwest just after dark and sets in the west a few hours later. Jupiter rises out of the east about an hour before sunset. Saturn rises out of the east about midnight.
