We have two hummingbird feeders we use. Starting about a week ago, one of them (the farthest from the house) suddenly started being drained surprisingly fast. Initially, we figured it was a leak. We cleaned it out thoroughly and put some water in it all day, but none leaked out. Fixed? The next night after putting it back out, it was fine. It appeared so. But then the next day, it was completely drained overnight again. We swapped the two hummingbird feeders in one last attempt to rule out a leak, but sure enough, the new one was completely drained the next morning too. Wind is definitely not the culprit either.
I ran across a hummingbird website that showed a bat taking drinks from a hummingbird feeder, describing how they can drain it overnight. That definitely sounded like the culprit and I thought we had it nailed down. Except, upon further looking, I found that the bat most commonly associated with that phenomena is the mexican long tongued bat, indigenous to the American Southwest area (Arizona/Mexico). I live in Missouri, which is a few thousand miles away from being in that area. I checked the Missouri state bats, and none appear to have the 'long tongue' that I assume is necessary to drink out of a hummingbird feeder.
Can any bat drain a hummingbird feeder if it wants to? I wouldn't think so given their mouths, but i'm starting to wonder. If not, what else could it be that is draining my hummingbird feeder overnight?
I ran across a hummingbird website that showed a bat taking drinks from a hummingbird feeder, describing how they can drain it overnight. That definitely sounded like the culprit and I thought we had it nailed down. Except, upon further looking, I found that the bat most commonly associated with that phenomena is the mexican long tongued bat, indigenous to the American Southwest area (Arizona/Mexico). I live in Missouri, which is a few thousand miles away from being in that area. I checked the Missouri state bats, and none appear to have the 'long tongue' that I assume is necessary to drink out of a hummingbird feeder.
Can any bat drain a hummingbird feeder if it wants to? I wouldn't think so given their mouths, but i'm starting to wonder. If not, what else could it be that is draining my hummingbird feeder overnight?