Birding Articles

Wednesday, December 29, 2021

Winter Hummingbirds


 

What a tough time it was for all the birds when the snow began to fall, covering their many sources of food, but the one bird we had the most inquires about was the Anna’s Hummingbird. It is a sight to see a small fragile little bird like a hummingbird zips past the window when there is a foot of snow on the ground, but they are tough and have survived cold winters before.

A common question when a hummingbird is seen in the winter months is, what is this bird doing here, shouldn’t it have migrated south? No, the Anna’s Hummingbird is a non migratory bird so they do not fly south and we get to enjoy hummingbirds all year long.

I believe that the sightings of the Anna’s Hummingbird in the Nanaimo area was in the early 70’s and were seen in the Stephenson Point and Sherwood Forest area. Usually the hummingbirds are seen along the waterfront where the climate is a bit warmer but over the years as the population has grown we have received reports of Anna’s Hummingbirds from many new areas of Nanaimo, Nanoose Bay and Parksville.

It is amazing how a tiny and fragile bird can survive the winter, they need to consume a lot of nutrients to survive. Nectar or sugar water has no nutritional value but it provides energy for the hummingbirds while they find other food like small soft-bodied bugs, and tree sap for their nutrients. Sometimes you may even see a hummingbird at a spider’s web, picking small insects out of it. Since the hummingbirds are burning so many calories they feed on nectar or sugar water every 10 to 20 minutes to keep them going. Each hummingbird will consume their weight in nectar, which is roughly 3 grams. A human with the same high metabolic rate would have to consume twice their body weight or about 150,000 calories, if they were to do what a hummingbird does each day. Hummingbirds use so much energy, in normal flight a hummingbird beats its wings 53 times per second to a maximum of 80 beats per second. Their wings can rotate one hundred and eighty degrees and move in a figure eight pattern, allowing them to move forward, backwards, up, down and hover like a helicopter. With all this work their heart rate is approximately 1250 beats per minute.

During the winter there are not many nectar providing flowers around for the hummingbirds to feed on, so hummingbirds will depend on the hummingbird feeders through the winter months. The sugar water solution I use in my hummingbird feeder is one (1) part sugar to three (3) parts water. Use only white table sugar when making your nectar mix, do not use honey, as this is fatal to hummingbirds. Also do not use any red food colouring, as this is also bad for the hummingbirds and not necessarily needed. Your feeders will need to be cleaned on a regular basis still and always keep the mixture fresh. The Anna’s Hummingbirds arrive early each morning, around seven o’clock, to get their boost of energy to start the day and a cold drink on a cold day does not go down well. Bring your feeders at night, at dark, this will keep the sugar water from freezing and warm it up to room temperature which will give the hummingbirds a good start to a cold morning. If your feeder freezes during the day, have a second feeder available to replace it with while the other thaws out. To keep things really warm place your hummingbird feeder below a light bulb or heat lamp to keep it from freezing. During the real cold of winter it may also be necessary to remove the perches from your hummingbird feeder. This will make the hummingbirds hover to feed and the movement will keep their body temperature up.

During the day hummingbirds are constantly looking for food to survive the cold nights. Then at night hummingbirds have to find a place to roost, that is out of the wind and protected from rain and snow. This may be in shrubs and evergreen trees or in a corner next to the house or a window. Our neighbours were lucky to have a couple of hummingbirds roost in their greenhouse to escape the elements. For a hummingbird it is tough to keep warm especially since they do not have any down feathers, so at night to conserve energy a hummingbird will go into a hypothermic stat known as torpor. This internal mechanism hummingbird will slow and lower their body temperature and metabolic rate so the hummingbird can conserve enough energy to survive the night and a little extra to start the morning.

Hummingbirds are such amazing little creatures and we have the privilege of enjoying them all year round. In less than three months the Rufous Hummingbirds will be returning, a sign of spring.



Here are some additional tips to help keep your hummingbird nectar from freezing:

  • Incandescent lights are your best friend. If you can find a string of incandescent Christmas lights you can wrap them around the hummingbird feeders to limit freezing. If you have a mechanic's trouble light you can put an incandescent bulb in it and point it at the feeder to provide heat.

  • Insulation against the wind helps limit freezing. Some customer's have used old wool socks, bubble wrap, towels, etc. wrapped around the hummingbird feeder to help limit the chill and provide some insulation. This method works even better if you're able to add some hand warmer packets against the bottle.

  • Swapping out hummingbird feeders (e.g. one outside while one is inside thawing). This method can require swapping every hour depending on how cold it is. When thawing out your hummingbird feeder please ensure you have "mixed" the solution prior to putting it back outside as the solution can experience separation when frozen (e.g. you will see two layers- one sugar concentrated solution on the bottom and a watery layer on the top).

  • Commercial hummingbird feeder heaters. These electric devices are very convenient and often contain a low wattage incandescent bulb and a way to affix the heater to your feeder (some heaters may come with a pre-attached feeder). 

  • Domes and other overhead cover can help retain heat around your hummingbird feeder.



 

Thursday, December 16, 2021

Vancouver Island Christmas Bird Count 2021/2022


The annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC) started in the 1900's and is now North America's largest running citizen-science project. Data from each CBC contributes to the world's largest set of wildlife records, and the information collected by thousands of volunteer participants each year is used by conservation biologists and naturalists to assess population trends and distribution of birds. 

Each year the CBC is conducted on a single day between December 14 and January 5. Regions are divided into multiple 24km diameter circles that are counted each year and are managed at the local level (often by a local birding club or naturalist organization). Volunteers can help count birds as a member of an assigned area on count day, or birds can be counted from the comfort of your own home. It is recommended that volunteers prepare to commit part-of or all of count day as either a field observer or feeder watcher within their count circle. Field observers count all birds they can find within their count circle on their own or with a small group, while feeder watchers will count birds in their yard for a portion of the day.

Below you will find information about count dates and organizer contact information for central Vancouver Island. For Nanoose, Parksville/ Qualicum Beach and Nanaimo you can download a CBC checklist to record the birds seen visiting your feeders. This year for Nanoose, Parksville/ Qualicum Beach and Nanaimo they are requesting data be submitted via their new online system, or email your count records to the coordinator for your zone. If you are looking to volunteer as a field observer, please reach out to your zone coordinator to discuss your options.

Nanoose

December 17, 2021

Contact Joe Crichton (joecrichton@shaw.ca)

Download the 2021 Christmas Bird Count Check List 

Submit CBC Observations

Parksville/Qualicum Beach

December 19, 2021

Contact Susan Knoerr (cbcpqb@gmail.com)

Download the 2021 Christmas Bird Count Check List 

Submit CBC Observations

Ladysmith

December 19, 2021

Contact Robert Hay (rbhay2020@gmail.com)

Nanaimo

December 27, 2021

Contact Heidi Van Vliet (heidi.vanvliet@hotmail.ca)

Download the 2021 Christmas Bird Count Check List 

Submit CBC Observations

Duncan

January 3, 2022

Contact Gail Mitchell (duncanbc@naturevictoria.ca)


If you're interested in participating in the CBC for 2021/2022 but we didn't include information for your count area please follow the link below to access information for all CBC count zones in British Columbia:

Information for other count locations