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Feeding hummungbirds in winter (1 Viewer)

rseymour

rseymour

Well-known member
Our winters are mild in Livermore (northern California).

1. Do hummingbirds fly south or stay?

2. Should I keep feeding them in late autumn and during the winter?

Any suggestions?

Thanks!
 
Robert:
Keeping a feeder up will not retain birds that would not have been there had the feeder been taken down so I strongly suggest keeping a feeder out. I know of people in CA that have fed through the winter.

Mark
Bastrop, TX
 
rseymour said:
Our winters are mild in Livermore (northern California).

1. Do hummingbirds fly south or stay?

2. Should I keep feeding them in late autumn and during the winter?

Any suggestions?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Some hummingbirds hang around all year in Southern California. When I lived in Oceanside we had Anna's year round. When we moved up to the mountains, (5,000ft level above Palm Desert.), I was surprised to find we had a few Anna's that hang around here all year also, so I leave one feeder up with a 3:1 mix.

Snow1.jpg
 
I guess you have Anna's too in Livermore? They stay year-round, at least here in the Bay Area, so they probably will do so over in Livermore. So keep feeding! And have fun, it is really a special treat to be able to watch them every day of the year!
 
Frankj, it really makes me freeze seeing your hummingbirds in the snow! Amazing, that they even can cope with that. I have once read (can't remember where though) that hummingbirds do not have any down feathers so it does not keep them warmer if they fluff their feathers - but every picture I see of hummingbirds in cold weather they do look fluffy, so I guess this is not exactly true...
 
You should have them through the winter in Livermore. Though numbers are much reduced from summer, we always have a few through the winter here in Temecula (elev. about 1200 ft). It's so nice right now that it's hard to believe we're only a couple of months away from cold nights. The chance of frost here usually starts about the third week of November. We had snow (!) last Nov 21.
 
Curtis Croulet said:
You should have them through the winter in Livermore. Though numbers are much reduced from summer, we always have a few through the winter here in Temecula (elev. about 1200 ft). It's so nice right now that it's hard to believe we're only a couple of months away from cold nights. The chance of frost here usually starts about the third week of November. We had snow (!) last Nov 21.
Click to expand...


I'm from Ohio and I never realized hummingbirds could survive snow. We get lows in the 30's and sometimes low 20's in Livermore, but that is about all. They're so much fun to watch.
 
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