I've seen reports from Alaska that heat lamps work.

Hummers are amazingly cold tolerant, they go into overnight hibernation called torpor.

I've had hummers sitting at my Lake Tahoe feeders waiting for them to thaw in late October.

Note that the sugar solution will concentrate as the water freezes.



Richard Carlson
Full-time Birder, Biker and Rotarian
Part-time Economist
Tucson, AZ, Lake Tahoe, CA, & Kirkland, WA
rccarl at pacbell.net
Tucson 520-760-4935
Tahoe 530-581-0624
Kirkland 425-828-3819
Cell 650-280-2965


--- On Sun, 12/14/08, Barbara Miller <bmill07 at comcast.net> wrote:

> From: Barbara Miller <bmill07 at comcast.net>
> Subject: [Tweeters] FW: Keeping hummingbird feeders from freezing?
> To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
> Date: Sunday, December 14, 2008, 10:34 AM
> Watching an Anna's at my hummingbird feeder this
> morning, I thought about
> the extended spell of cold weather due for western
> Washington and wondered
> what strategies people use to keep the liquid in the
> feeders from freezing.
> I've read about bringing them in overnight and putting
> them out at dawn, but
> I'm not sure that they won't freeze during the day
> as well. I've thought of
> using my Wild Birds Unlimited coupon toward a second
> hummingbird feeder, to
> keep filled inside the house, and then take it outside
> periodically and
> trade it.
>
>
>
> Reheating the liquid in the microwave leads to sparking,
> and it takes a long
> time to warm it up under hot water, and I'd rather be
> able to just make one
> trip out to disturb the feeding area in this cold (since
> there's usually
> some shivering house finch or junco out there whose energy
> I don't want to
> drain by scaring them away more than I have to.
>
>
>
> What do other folks do?
>
>
>
> Barb Miller
>
> Bellevue, WA
>
> Bmill07(AT)Comcast(DOT)net
>
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