Time to bust another MYTH!

Its just a few days away from the start of fall and hummingbird activity at the feeders and plants has slowed down. We have four feeders and a host of Hummingbird friendly plants and I believe the two females, that have been at the house all summer, have left and only the juvenile male and the occasional hummer passing by have been seen.

The MYTH is if you leave your feeders out the Hummingbirds will stay. I have lived in Cincinnati and Indianapolis and the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are gone by the first of October. The truth is the adult males leave first, about mid July to the first of August. The adult females leave about mid September and the juveniles are gone by mid October, other parts of the country are different. I will keep my Hummingbird feeders up until the temperatures drop into the 20’s. I also change the mix to a 1:1 mix, one part sugar to one part water. This will give the Hummers passing through a little more energy to make it to the next flower or feeder on their long journey.

I have read on some web sites the Rufous Hummingbirds will come east for the winter. One of the Hummingbird mapping sites had several sightings in Ohio and Indiana of the Rufous Hummingbird in January and February so if its warm enough my feeder will be out with a 1:1 mix to welcome this rare winter time visitor!