[mou] Hummer back on Thursday!

[Laura Erickson]

The hummingbird is back at my feeders--first appeared at 7:15 am, feeding 
heavily in the feeders near the fence--mainly the large feeder hanging in 
the box elder tree.  He's also been perched quite a bit in the lilac bush.

If you come, PLEASE look as carefully as you can at the back feathers, 
looking for rusty feathers or a definite lack of them, and at the shape of 
the tail feathers, and which tail feathers don't have rust.

A couple of people have asked that I get the bird captured and moved to a 
warmer climate.  I honestly believe this is inappropriate.  First, in the 
few cases I know of hummingbirds being captured and transported, half have 
died, presumably from stress--it isn't a kindness to capture a wild bird 
merely for doing what it does naturally--and Rufous (and even Allen's) 
Hummingbirds are known to wander east regularly, and are overwintering 
farther and farther north.  As tropical deforestation continues apace, 
perhaps those birds wintering in the US will contribute to the eventual 
survival of the species--right now, although Rufous Hummingbirds have 
healthy numbers, their numbers are declining .  Also, the Rufous 
Hummingbird is the most northern-nesting of all hummingbirds, breeding even 
in the mountains in Alaska and northern Canada.  It can handle at least 
some harsh conditions.  I think it is wisest and most humane to allow the 
bird to continue to come as it chooses, and to move on when it's ready.

Are my feeders enticing it to remain too long?  It was already wandering 
this far north in November before it detected my feeders.  It's been seen 
feeding at the tips of some branches--perhaps getting late insects or 
spiders--and so there has obviously been some natural food available for 
it.  There are a great many feeders in Louisiana throughout the winter, but 
most hummingbirds move on despite the abundant food.  The pattern with 
Rufous Hummingbirds seems to be that they remain in a place for days, or 
weeks, depending on a lot of factors, some we don't even know about, and so 
although my feeders are certainly providing it with extra calories, they 
are not what brought him here in the first place, and as far as I can tell, 
after talking with experts, the feeders will not entice him to remain 
longer than he would.

Laura Erickson
Duluth, MN

NOTE address change: bluejay@lauraerickson.com

Producer, "For the Birds" radio program
<http://www.lauraerickson.com/>

There is symbolic as well as actual beauty in the migration of 
birds.  There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of 
nature--the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after the winter.

                                 --Rachel Carson