Where are the hummingbirds?

[MossRoad]

Seems normal here in Northern Indiana.

 

[MODiesel]

Here in Southeast/Central MO [kinda' hard to describe where we are], we've got more than normal. Last year we set out two feeders and the hummers mostly used only one. This year, both drop at alarming rates, and recently, my wife has taken to refilling them on a daily basis. Lots of males fending off other males & females, though I haven't seen females dueling with each other.

- Jay

 

[Wil]

They are enjoying the warm sunny arid desert out here in Arizona. We have had more this year fighting around our 4 feeders than any past year.

Sure enjoy those beauties.

 

[DieselPower]

Seems normal here at the MD/PA state line. I have around 8 of them this year which is about the usual amount.

 

[randy41]

about normal here. need to fill the feeder again.

 

[jinman]

We moved our feeder no more than 30 ft from below our raised deck to just outside our kitchen window where it was last year. Before it was moved, there seemed to be a swarm around it constantly and it got drained in two or three days. Now, it may last a week or more. That seems to be objective evidence that there are less hummers, but then, I look out in the field and see millons of wildflowers in bloom. Maybe they are coming less because of the availability of all the natural nectar. ...hard to say for sure.

 

[dmartin88]

I have noticed a marked decline in the number of hummingbirds using my feeders this year. Are you experiencing the same thing or does all seem to be normal?

Noticeably lower for us here in Leesburg, VA this year as well but talked with the local birding group last week and they said the folks south of us are starting to see them return and thought we'd be back to "normal" in a couple of weeks? Hope so as they are fun to watch.

 

[schmism]

when we were keeping the feeder full this spring we had normal if not more than normal number fighting over it....

 

[dmccarty]

About the same here in Michigan. Overall, an article in the local paper remarked on the ~50% decrease in songbirds in general, attributed to mosquito-spread West Nile Virus. Of course, there are more mosquitoes since banning DDT, which was said to wreck havoc with bird populations. It just goes on and on and on.

We don't put out feeders but the birds hang around our porch going after flowers in planters. I have only see one or two so far but it still seems early. We usually don't notice them until late summer. I think most of the birds seen in NC have to fly in from Latin/South America.

The Wall Street Journal has been talking about DDT for months. There line is that DDT was banned because of media hysteria. The theory at the time, which I remember, was the DDT was to blame for the egg problems in birds. The study they qoute, I think it was from the EPA, said that DDT did not cause the problems but by the time the study was completed DDT had been banned.

The WSJ has been bringing this up due to the millions of people who die each year from Malaria. Their argument is that these people could be save cheaply and quickly with DDT.

I have no idea if this is true. I'm just the barer of news.

Yesterday's mail had the latest National Geographic. The cover was about Malaria. It will be interesting to see what they have to say.

Later,
Dan

 

[jinman]

DDT was blamed for the rapid decrease in the number of bald eagles in the '50s. The population got down to a few hundred and has steadily increased after the ban on DDT to a population near 10,000 mating pairs. Or at least that's what I heard on a TV show this weekend. If it's on TV, it must be true. Right?