Keep the feeders out. They know when they are supposed to leave as the trigger is based on day length among other things.

Keeping the feeders out won't make them stay all winter but suddenly removing the food source may leave them at a disadvantage. My dominant female seems to feed constanly now and she never goes far. Any time another hummer arrives she is quick to send them packing. I assume that if she stands guard here all day, she may not have an alternate food source.

Keep the feeders up...even if your babies leave, you can still have migrating birds for a while. I'm sure they'd survive without us, but we all need a helping hand now and then and even tho they can't say so, I'm sure they appreciate our effort.

glo