As David Plummer notes:

<< The effect of the cold weather on my Anna's has been for them to lay
aside hostilities and actually share the feeder on occasion. There were two
females, or young males, sipping for several minutes together >>



...I noted the same thing. With temperatures starting out at 17 and warming
to the mid 20's by noon, keeping my hummingbirds properly tended to was a
busy challenge. All feeders were kept indoors over night and I started out
putting just one feeder knowing it and any others would soon freeze which was
within about 45 min. But the hummers were eager for it in an instant putting
aside their territorial differences to share the single available tube,
something which I had never seen before here. Gradually, I put more out and just
kind of rotated frozen and warmed feeders in and out through the morning. I
had a large sauce pan on the stove filled with water and kept the burner on
low so the warm water would thaw and warm the smaller feeders quicker and this
seemed to work just fine and kept them from refreezing immediately.

What didn't work, so DON'T DO IT(!), was putting the larger feeders in the
OVEN. This was kind of an experiment; turn the heat on 'warm', leave the door
cracked open so nothing gets too hot, and put the feeders in there for what
should be a short while and hopefully everything will warm up really fast. I
did anticipate the potential for mess as the cold to heating process would
result in expansion of air pressure inside the glass bottle which would
probably push some of the fluid out. I didn't want any fluid on the bottom of the
oven of course, so I put the feeder on an insulted hot pad on a plate. What
eventually happens is that the rapidly expanding pressure in the bottle will
push ALL of the fluid out eventually. What I ended up with is an insulated
hot pad dripping with sugary fluid and a plate full as well. Okay, so we
won't be doing that again and it's back to just letting it sit at room
temperature for awhile and even that results in a little fluid leakage and besides, it
wouldn't hurt if those demanding hummers were to learn a little patience
anyway.

All this in and out activity today worked hand in hand with my "Great
Backyard Bird Count" this morning. Ended up with 19 species, highlight being an
immature Bald Eagle soaring round and round straight up over the yard.
Otherwise, nothing out of the ordinary and those normally back yard bird usuals that
disappointed by deciding NOT to participate this morning were the Pileated
Woodpecker, Brown Creeper, and the recent new yard list addition, the Barred
Owl was a disappointing no show as well. No House Sparrows or Starlings
either and no surprise since they are about as rare and hens teeth around here.
The hummingbirds, all 8 of them, were happy and exuberant all day long zipping
about the intermittently available feeders and when perched were often all
puffed up to keep warm.

And although I was physically warming the feeders, sometimes a little hot
even, one thought did occur to me and hopefully this isn't a problem, so maybe
someone can set me straight. How physiologically hard might it be on a
'cold' hummingbird suddenly sampling something that is unexpectedly warm, hot
even, not boiling of course, but still hot, and whether the shock of such if
there is any might be of any detriment? Or is it more like a treat as it is for
you or me to have a cup of hot cocoa after being chilled to the bone after
camping overnight outside? Of course the nectar doesn't stay 'too' hot for
long once subjected to subfreezing cold and the hummingbirds are just kind of
sticking their tongue into it rather then just guzzling it down like a scalding
hot cup of coffee or cocoa that burns your mouth. So, if it is initially
'too hot' they just sit nearby, 'test' it once in awhile until it's, yum, just
right, or at least that's the way it seemed.

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Richard Rowlett
Bellevue (Eastgate), WA, USA

"Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what
nobody has thought" --Albert Szent-Gyorgi (1893-1986).
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