Where are the hummingbirds?

[deere_x475guy]

We are in Mid Michigan and wife and I have noted the same thing. We have seen one Hummingbird this year and it acted like it was sick. It sat at the feeder not moving at for a long time so I decided to try walking up to it. It let me get with a few feet before taking flight. Haven't seen one since.

 

[Tdog]

Fewer hummers in our area too - - almost none seen in the last couple of weeks. There were a few more earlier in the spring.

BTW, DDT was blamed for the decimation of the brown pelecan too. When I moved to New Orleans in the early 60's the pelicans were gone already. Never saw on when I went fishing. They were re-introduced around the late 80's [a guess], & they are fairly common now - - at least in the Lake Pontchartrain area.

Jack

Jack

 

[JRobyn]

Hey TN,

I know why you're not seeing as many. My F-I-L has baited them all up to his farm just south of Gainesboro! He's going through over a gallon of feed a week!

- Jay

 

[chili]

I've only seen just a few so far. Last year we would have about 4 feeders we had to refill everyday. They must be vacationing somewhere else so far.

 

[tallyho8]

BTW, DDT was blamed for the decimation of the brown pelecan too. When I moved to New Orleans in the early 60's the pelicans were gone already. Never saw on when I went fishing. They were re-introduced around the late 80's [a guess], & they are fairly common now - - at least in the Lake Pontchartrain area.

I was born and raised in SE Louisiana (The Pelican State) and I never saw a pelican until about 1990 and now there are many around again. When I was very young I remember my father pouring DDT from a brown gallon glass jug into a hand sprayer and spraying for mosquitoes in the summer. I glad there are safer alternatives to DDT for us to use now.

 

[MossRoad]

Wasn't DDT associated with the thinning of the bird's eggs, making them very delicate and easy to break in the nest? As I recall, it almost did in the Perigrene(sp?) falcons, too.

 

[dmccarty]

Wasn't DDT associated with the thinning of the bird's eggs, making them very delicate and easy to break in the nest? As I recall, it almost did in the Perigrene(sp?) falcons, too.

That was what was being said at the time.

The WSJ has been saying that problem with the birds was not caused by DDT. At the time, the press and I think the book Silent Spring, blamed DDT. Later studies, again according to the WSJ, said DDT did not cause egg problems.

I read the Malaria article in the National Geographic last night. DDT was mentioned in NG as the most effective s sqeeter controler. They showed a graph of Malaria infections in South Africa before they stopped using DDT, when they stopped DDT use, and now its reintroduction. When DDT was not used the rate of Malaria infection went through the roof. Spray DDT in the house and the infection rate dropped quickly. The DDT use NG mentioned was spraying the house.

The NG article said the cotton farmers sprayed DDT in large amounts which caused the egg problems. But they did not mention in studies that proved/disproved the statement. Only the Silent Spring book.

Some areas of Africa will have over 100% of the population sick with Malaria in a year. Its over 100% because you can get sick more than once. 20% of the kids under 5 die from Malaria. And Malaria is starting to become resistant to some drugs used to treat the illness...

Interestingly, an "ancient" Chinese herb that has been used to treat Malaria for centuries has been found to work and is being used as an alternative the current drugs.

Malaria was a problem in this country until 1946 at which point it was wiped out. And we where lucky in that are squeeters at the time liked to go after four legged critters. The reason the CDC is in Atlanta was to fight Malaria in the South. Ya gots to wonder what if Tiger squeeter could help reintroduce Malaria to the US.

Later,
Dan

 

[rcaretti]

I finally started seeing what I'd call a normal number of hummers the last few weeks, after having literally none earlier in June. I've been refilling our two feeders every other day or so.

They definitely showed up late this year, for what reason, I do not know.

 

[jimg]

At my place we see them pretty regularly and Im not that far from mid-TN. Ive only been there a few months and have no data from last yr to judge by but there seems to be no shortage of takers at the feeder.

 

[JPinnell]

In mid MO the hummers usually show up the first couple of weeks in April. Depends on the weather. Last year we had the first one on 04/02 and this year it was 04/16 but then we had a late bitter cold snap in early April. We have 3 feeders on our deck and they hold a Qt each. Peak seems to run April through mid June and I'll be feeding over 2 Qts a day. End of June things taper off through July to a Qt per day but then it picks back up mid Aug through to when they head South in October.

My theory is the Spring Rush is from all the birds going North. These aren't all your permanent residents for the Summer. The ones you see around in late June are nesting in your area. When they raise their brood you start seeing an increase in Aug as the young ones are now out of the nest. Then in late Sept you get the South Rush and most all are gone by late Oct.

The previous owners of our house obviously had feeders. We bought the place in July '04 and there were confused hungry birds when we moved in. We started out with the little 4 flower Perky Pets and I could fill 4 of them in the morning and be empty when I got home from work that evening. We upgraded to the 1Qt Best One feeder and usually at least one of them still has nectar in it. They seem to like our little part of the hollow as the neighbors only have a few.

Here's some shot from earlier this Spring:
http://www.johnpinnell.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=750
http://www.johnpinnell.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=765
http://www.johnpinnell.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=774