Hummingbirds in late fall weather - doing their best to stay fueled

                Hummingbirds that winter over in Las Vegas NV need to keep their energy levels up. During the day it is necessary for them to gain weight in order to survive the cold, long night of winter. In the depth of winter this may mean doubling their morning weight. Yet winter also sees a lessening of flowers and insects that serve to feed the birds, so feeders become even more important to them now than during the warm summer months.

                My feeders get their first customers at dawn and the last ones just before it gets truly dark, long after the sun has officially set. I try not to disturb them at these times, since in the morning they are taking their first high-calorie food of the day and in the evening they are taking their last feeding that will have the get them through the night.

                When we had three days of chilly rain here in Las Vegas my feeders were really hopping. I know for people living in other parts of the country temperatures in the 40s don’t sound so bad, but we’d been having temperatures in the upper 60s in the weeks before. The change was hard on me and the birds both. I handled it by turning on my furnace. The birds handled it by consuming more feed than normal.

Anna's Hummingbird female watching 'her' north side feeder. My neighbors bottle brush is her favorite place to sit and keep an eye out for intruders.

                I watched as my female Anna’s hummingbird came to the north side feeder in the rain. All the while she drank she had to keep ruffling her feathers to shake the rain off. Sometimes she stayed on the perch for awhile just to conserve energy before she took her next drink.

She's trying to keep the rain off. Notice the rain drops on the feeder.

               

Waiting for the sun to come out, early morning after the rain finally stopped.

My patio feeder is under the patio cover, so birds there had the advantage of being out of the rain. Their problem is that it is also where my finch feeder is. Finches use the hummingbird feeders as take off points for getting to the thistle seed sock. At times the arrival of the bigger bird causes the tiny hummer to fly off. At other times they happily coexist on the feeder. The hummer sits there without even noticing the giant on the next perch.

Juvenile male Anna's getting a drink where it's dry. Notice the pink feathers to the right of his eye.

                During the rains only the Anna’s hummingbird came to my feeders. After the rains were over, on November 25, I had my front door open to let in the welcome sunshine and listen to the bird songs. I could hear the whistle of the Costa’s hummingbird. I hadn’t heard that sound for weeks. I thought for sure the Costa’s had left me for the Colorado River, where winter temperatures average about ten degrees warmer than here in Las Vegas. I kept listening, trying to decide if I were mistaken, but no; it was the Costa’s song.

                Then that afternoon I was sitting on my couch talking on the phone, binoculars and camera within reach, when I saw the Costa’s come to the feeder. I grabbed the binoculars and looked to be sure that was what I was seeing. Then I grabbed the camera and with one hand pointed it at the bird, hoping for a usable picture. The lighting wasn’t the best, so I had to use a bright filter to bring out the details, but the picture is proof that my Costa’s is definitely still with me, putting up with the cooler temperatures as we move into winter in Las Vegas.

Proof that my Costa's male is still with me!