Since working from home starting with the pandemic, I have discovered that I have at least 1 female ruby throated hummingbird present and visiting my Minneapolis feeders all summer long. No males though, or none that I see. I always thought they migrated through here and were not resident throughout the summer, but clearly some females must reside nearby. One was just here a few minutes ago. So now I keep the feeders fresh all summer long. I definitely see an uptick during spring and fall migration, with males in the mix, but it’s been interesting to see these summer females hanging around.
That's so interesting! I suspect that nesting females are a little more interested in feeders than males because the males can travel and spend a lot of time feeding from natural sources. If a female is incubating eggs somewhere in the vicinity of a feeder, she may want some quick easy meals so she can minimize the time off them. Insects MUST be included in the slurry of regurgitated food she feeds her babies, but a quick easy meal now and then is probably helpful even while she has nestlings. They're so tiny that unless they're at our feeders or right in our flower gardens when we happen to be looking, we can be totally unaware that they're in our neighborhoods.
Since working from home starting with the pandemic, I have discovered that I have at least 1 female ruby throated hummingbird present and visiting my Minneapolis feeders all summer long. No males though, or none that I see. I always thought they migrated through here and were not resident throughout the summer, but clearly some females must reside nearby. One was just here a few minutes ago. So now I keep the feeders fresh all summer long. I definitely see an uptick during spring and fall migration, with males in the mix, but it’s been interesting to see these summer females hanging around.
That's so interesting! I suspect that nesting females are a little more interested in feeders than males because the males can travel and spend a lot of time feeding from natural sources. If a female is incubating eggs somewhere in the vicinity of a feeder, she may want some quick easy meals so she can minimize the time off them. Insects MUST be included in the slurry of regurgitated food she feeds her babies, but a quick easy meal now and then is probably helpful even while she has nestlings. They're so tiny that unless they're at our feeders or right in our flower gardens when we happen to be looking, we can be totally unaware that they're in our neighborhoods.