Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Hummers & garages don’t mix!

I’m not talking about the Hummer vehicle, I’m talking about humming birds. They are beautiful & fun to watch, but not too smart when they get stuck in the garage. The problem is that when they panic they fly straight up and smack right into the rafters, either hurting themselves, or after 2-3 hours they just become exhausted from not being able to feed. On Monday Tony had to rescue 2 hummger, a male & female Ruby Throated. The male was pretty easy to catch, but the female was a challenge. By the time we caught her she was wrapped up in insulation & exhausted. Tony pick her up and she literally just laid in his hand, so he set her down on the perch of one of our feeders, and she just sat there & drank the nectar for almost 15 minutes, before gaining enough strength to fly away. So, last night we had to rescue another female, this one was easier to catch. We have always had a pretty good hummer population so, I’m not sure why so many are getting stuck in our garage this year, but I guess we’ll be keeping the door closed this summer.

Part of the problem is that they are very curious, and don’t have much fear. They quickly become accustomed to people, If I wear anything red (they love this color) it’s not uncommon for them to swoop down and hover just inches from me to check it out. They are also impatient, when I am changing the feeder they usually are perched just a few feet away waiting. I have heard that some hummers will get so used to people that if they pour some nectar in the palm of their hand the birds will sit and drink it off your hand. I haven’t tried that yet, but I might someday, they are a beautiful bird to see up-close.

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