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eshunter99

Lonely guy still here

eshunter99
13 years ago

We have a solitary hummingbird still here after all the others have gone south. Other winters we've had hummingbirds stay for the whole season, but last fall we had an unusual, prolonged early cold snap and I think some of them died. This year there is just the one left, and he shows no sign of leaving. We're located in southwest Oregon at about 850 feet elevation. We wanted to know if there's anything we can do to help this one through the winter. Is there some sort of shelter we could build, or some sort of insulating material we could put out for his use? Thank you for any advice you could give us.

Comments (5)

  • bluehummer
    13 years ago

    I have a young male ruby-throat that's been here since 11/5 and was concerned about the temperatures getting colder and saw two suggestions that I'm following. I've increased the sugar water rario to 1:3 and I've put bubble wrap around the feeder with duct tape. It was about 35 this morning when I saw him and he seemed fine. You may want to try something like that. I don't bring the feeder in at night because they can feed a couple of hours before sunrise and that's when they really need it.

  • eshunter99
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thanks for the ideas. I'll do the bubble wrap this afternoon. I guess I really want to get him an electric blanket, but can't figure out how.

  • bluehummer
    13 years ago

    Another website showed someone with their feeder wrapped in an electric heating pad and plugged into an electric cord that can be used outside. I'm not sure if I'm ready to do that yet.

  • nanclendan
    13 years ago

    Hello! I'm in Enumclaw, WA (southeast of Seattle) and I've also got one little fella that's still here. The feeder is in a tree right outside my office window, and he's been coming and feeding for the past 6 months. When I saw him today, trying to feed - I was shocked! The nectar was frozen as our temp here is 16 degrees, with about a foot of snow from last night's storm.
    I filled the feeder with warmish water, and hung out where it would get more sun. I will try the idea of wrapping with bubble wrap tomorrow.
    Not sure why he's all alone, but sure want to help him survive. Is there some kind of shelter that could be built?

  • bluehummer
    13 years ago

    I went out and bought a string of 50 little white Christmas lights (non-LED) and wrapped them around the feeder today because when I got up this morning the sugar water was starting to freeze and turning slushy.

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