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Cool Mini-Kins: bird brain hummingbird feeders
Although hummingbirds may have shown up a few weeks earlier this year… their trip home to Central and South America will likely be on target for early fall. If the tiny sprites are present and guzzling your nectar, just wait about another month when numbers may double, or even triple!The long journey back requires lots of energy, and nectar from feeders is an excellent source to keep hummingbirds engine’s fueled! Even when your resident birds may have already split… groups from further north and some stragglers will stop for refuge.
Last year, we were absolutely inundated with hummingbirds during the fall migration, even our cats (from inside the screened porch) went bonkers seeing and hearing all the buzzing activity! More feeders were needed fast to accommodate the passers-by, and these little glass ones fit the bill well. The Mini-Kins are Bird Brain hummingbird feeders, and sold in sets of three. Hand blown glass in vibrant colors, they’re easy to fill & clean, and two feeding ports are better than one!
Be ready to offer migrating hummingbirds fuel for their long journey home. Keep nectar fresh and hang an extra feeder or two in the next few weeks. Keep leaf misters on during the day (their favorite), and if you have birdbaths with fountains, be sure the water is clean for them as well.
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The Mini-est of watering holes? the ant moat!
Well of course I was sans the camera when a Titmouse landed on the bracket where the hummingbird feeder hangs. Above that is a moat to keep the pesky ants at bay and out of nectar. The bird hopped down and perched on the moat, drinking, drinking and drinking again. After this incident I kept a closer watch, and noticed other small songbirds had the same idea.It seemed strange to me because there are nine birdbaths, two misters, and one fountain around the place! Yes, it’s a job in itself taking care of everything in the yard, but when you’re a backyard bird fanatic… these things happen!
Luckily the afternoon storms have started in the Southeast, bringing rain, wonderful rain! “Crunchiness” is turning green, and plants are looking much healthier. I wish for all drought-stricken areas the rains would come. Even on Facebook, I’ve seen rain dances and rain prayers throughout the daily feeds.
Now usually when it’s hotter than Hades out there, a few drops of salad oil are added to the water inside the ant moat. This addition to the moat water helps to slow evaporation. But after discovering birds drinking from the smallest birdbath in the world… we had to nix the oil.
Be kind to birds and wildlife if your area is parched. Simply placing a shallow bowl or pan of water on the ground will make an excellent refuge for many crawly, winged, or other wild being!
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finch feeders at 105 degrees
“Oh, I don’t feed birds in summer.“Have you heard that before? After feeding wild birds for the past 25 years or so – to this day – I still don’t comprehend the statement! It’s up there with dumping the birdbath, turning it over, and rendering it useless through winter!
Sure, natural food sources are usually plentiful through summer… except when temps are reaching and exceeding 105° in most parts of the country, and for days on end! Food sources deplete, disappear, nada, zilch, even mosquitoes at dusk are rarer than in early June. So what’s the big deal? Babies! Parents are scurrying to feed nestlings and fledgelings through a critical growth stage, and in weather that’s just not normal.
Bird feeders have been jam-packed for the last two weeks, we’re going through seed, suet and worms like water! A platform with sunflower heart & peanut mix sees tons of cardinals, jays, nuthatches and titmice. More common with bluebirds, for the first time I witnessed a male cardinal feeding a fledgeling on the ground… from this feeder! Mealworm feeders for bluebirds, with Carolina wrens and thrashers sneaking a few turns, and nyjer seed for finch feeders which have seen hundreds of the electric yellow little birds better known as goldfinches. They actually have the latest nesting season, while Eastern bluebirds are still going strong on their second and third broods. Babies, babies, babies!
So no… you don’t really have to feed the birds through summer, but why wouldn’t you? Lot of babies out there and food sources are becoming quite scarce. Consider setting out a saucer or shallow bowl of water too. Birds will flock to it, more so than the feeders in this heat! Several of our baths are nothing more than large plant saucers on old tree stumps, on the ground, and on the deck. They’re the place to be seen if you’re a bird!
Oh yeah.. and the birdbath thing in winter: That’s why they make bath heaters! Water is essential to life, birds need water in winter, it’s critical even in frigid temps because most of their usual sources (shallow ponds, puddles) freeze over. “Oh, they can just eat snow.” Well, sure they can, but it takes a heck of a lot energy (calories) to convert that snow to water. Help wild birds thrive year-round with wildlife-friendly habitat that makes life better. They’ll make your life more colorfu and interesting too… and that’s a promise!
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