Wildfiles: A winter hummingbird

Wow, what a month November proved to be!

Wind, rain, cool weather and now, as I write this column on Dec. 1, it is 66 degrees.

With the weather squirreling all over the place, what is to be expected next?

We were in Rufus, Ore., on Nov. 30 and it looked like late July there with all the yards full of fresh blooming flowers as there has not been a single frost there this fall.

In fact, we stopped there to see a reported hummingbird that has been coming to a heated hummingbird feeder next to the post office.

We were successful, and had great views of this Anna’s hummingbird perched in a willow tree.

One hundred and twenty Wildfiles columns ago, in my very first Wildfiles column, I wrote about the Anna’s hummingbird.

This amazing species of native hummingbird was unheard of anywhere in eastern Washington or northeastern Oregon prior to the early 1990s.

The first known record of Anna’s hummingbird in Walla Walla County was on Dec. 3, 1992, at Wilbur Hollies’ home on North College Avenue in College Place.

That morning, I received a phone call from Wilbur about a hummingbird at his feeder still coming in to feed. Now we had already had snow and it had been very cold, to the point where there were chunks of ice glued to branches here and there.

The day Wilbur called was 11 above 0 degrees.

So, we headed to see this amazing tiny bird at the feeder on North College Avenue.

Upon arriving at the yard, there, in a forsythia bush with chunks of ice and snow, sat a resplendent adult male Anna’s hummingbird.

Soon Wilbur, came out and told us that this 4-gram hummer was constantly at the feeder, slurping up the sugar water which he kept thawed by wrapping heat tape around the feeder to keep it from freezing.

I have several prints of this male Anna’s perched right near an ice chunk.

We were really excited and very surprised to see this wonderful hummer on this very cold December day.

Anna’s hummingbirds first appeared from south and central coastal California in the 1970s, and kept pushing north.

We located our first one at Ocean Shores, Wash., in May 1988.

These 3-4 gram weight birds now are known to winter all over eastern Washington as well as breed here starting in late February.

They often select porches, garages and brush around homes in which to build their tiny three-inch-wide nests, which they construct out of spider webs, plant fibers and lichens.

I am often asked if folks should take down their hummingbird feeders in late fall and winter.

Please do not do that, as you are not having any impact on these dynamo hummers by keeping your feeders up. They will be here regardless of your feeders.

By keeping your hummer feeders up, you are helping them in their search for food.

You can now buy heated hummingbird feeders to plug in and keep warm.

A good mix of winter sugar water is three cups water to one cup sugar. It helps to boil this mix for a minute, let it cool and then place it in the feeder/s.

Anna’s hummingbirds establish winter feeding territories and will defend, with great effort, the area around the feeder.

They also feed on tiny midges, gnats and flies during the winter months.

Sugar water is the fuel that allows them to go after the insects that they need for a balanced diet.

The adult males have bright metallic burgundy feathers on the crown and all across the throat. At certain angles, these dark raspberry features look all dark, but if the light hits these tiny feathers just right, the glow of brilliant metallic raspberry red will take your breath away.

Females lack the metallic burgundy flashy colors, but does have metallic green up and down the back to the crown.

Watch for these energy powerhouses, and also listen for them.

They give a grinding shee-shee territorial call.

When you see one, watch and enjoy them as this exciting bird was not always here.

Remember, life is good!