Subject: Rufous Hummers and feeders
Date: Mar 14 10:50:37 2003
From: mgd at u.washington.edu - mgd at u.washington.edu


I agree with Mike Patterson's comments, about rufous hummingbirds being right on time with the availability of natural food sources. Rob Sandelin mentions that the red-flowering currant is just starting to open--I was in Stanley Park in Vancouver BC 3 weeks ago and currants were already blooming. Currants respond to local microclimates, and on the scale of a neighborhood there may be quite a bit of variation in when they start to bloom. (Which actually may be beneficial to hummers!)

Since feeders are a reliable food source (once you've found one) and provide an abundance of food, I they can have an impact this time of year in that they may increase survivorship in times of unseasonally bad early spring weather. I've been in March snowstorms in Seattle more than once!

Mike Donahue
Seattle