Dan,
Thanks for sharing all of these observations. In return I will share an
amazing recent video of 40+ Anna's at a group of feeders on a Magnolia
porch (sorry it's embedded on NextDoor, you'll have to log in):
https://nextdoor.com/news_feed/?post=212199655
Hope your feeders are all warm and busy with hummers!
-Max
On Thu, Nov 25, 2021 at 12:42 AM Dan Reiff <
dan.owl.reiff at gmail.com> wrote:
>
Hello Tweeters,
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I generally like to keep email responses in a chain/thread from the
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original email sender.
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I find it much easier to follow then each person starting a new one.
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Do others find the same?
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I make the exception here because I found the Anna's threads in my junk
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file, which I check daily because I find some legitimate tweeters emails
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there.
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I am very cautious about some emails from Tweeters, because of the
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inappropriate emails that began with the breach of Tweeters.
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I get 3-6 each day and put them in trash and delete.
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Now, my wife and I are big fans of hummingbirds.
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In addition to the great observations and comments by others, there is
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another we have noted regarding food source guarding and number of them
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feeding in close proximity.
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Sudden cold weather shifts and prolonged very low temperatures like we
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have had at times over the last year, appear to make the feeder guarding
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and chasing behavior much less frequent and often, if they do happen it is
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much slower and much less aggressive.
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And last winter, during the several days of the coldest weather, we
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observed more hummingbirds on one of feeders than ever before.
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Especially in the last 90 minutes before dark, up to 13-14 (8-10 more than
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the usual max) were side by side, close to touching and showed no signs of
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aggression.
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It was almost like there was some primitive "let's all survive and we can
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dispute territory later" behavior.
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Flights were half speed or less- it was like seeing them in a slow motion
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video-which was very neat to watch.
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Or maybe they were just too chilled, with decreased metabolism and need to
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conserve energy for survival, to be aggressive. Or some or all of those and
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more.
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We have an additional feeder nearby and another 40 feet away and around
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the corner of our house. We currently have no more Anna's than usual,
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around 3-5.
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However, our most interesting sugar feeding station occurs each fall and
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never needs to be attended or refilled.
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Each year a Red-breasted Sapsucker arrives and establishes sap wells
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between when the first leaves show signs of turning until about 90 % have
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fallen off our 45 year old Birch tree. The time range is about 5-7 weeks.
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Then the bird is gone.
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Currently, at least one Anna's, four Black-capped Chickadees and one
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Ruby-crowned Kinglet are frequenting the "well-maintained" wells, some are
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on the top side of larger branches, in addition to those on the usual
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vertical trunk surfaces.
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A group of 8-10 Bushtits are frequently in our yard and I always enjoy
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hearing them and watching them fly. This is the first year they have more
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than make a late afternoon visit to our suet feeders.
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They make stops to the Birch tree,
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As they move around the yard gleaning. I am interested to if they will use
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the sap wells. My speculation is no, but who knows?
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Has anyone seen them feeding at sap wells?
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Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
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Best regards,
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Dan Reiff
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>
Sent from my iPhone
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