Finally!! First Hummer of the Season

[dirkclod]

Eclectus Parrot: (Male/Left...Female/Right)

View attachment 3512

Pretty birds but would have guest the male was on the right.

 

[RussOnTheRoad]

The food coloring has never as far as I’ve seen has never bother
them and after experimenting blue seems to be thier Favourite.
Red is next. Just clear sugar water don’t seem to be as good.
Now we boil everthing before we fill any feeders.

What you or I might observe is not necessarily of much scientific value. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, a widely recognized authority on birds, is very likely better equipped to make pronouncements of what is and what is not good for birds. An excerpt from their page about feeding hummingbirds states that "...food coloring may be harmful for hummingbirds." I doubt very much you would intentionally wish to harm these delightful flying jewels, so it might be better to play it safe and listen to the experts. Would you not agree?

 

[Fred Garvin]

@RussOnTheRoad is correct regarding the food coloring. It is widely advised to not use it, just the recommended 4:1 mix.

Where are you Russ? I'm guessing Pac NW from the Anna's distro and the cold you mentioned. Do you use eBird and Merlin? I submit checklists a few times a week. Don't feel obligated to feed. They're wild animals and are quite capable of finding food on their own. Just as with songbirds and seed feeders, it's simply a convenient supplement.

However, your little guy might wander off in search of food, making you start all over attracting them.

 

[dirkclod]

What you or I might observe is not necessarily of much scientific value. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, a widely recognized authority on birds, is very likely better equipped to make pronouncements of what is and what is not good for birds. An excerpt from their page about feeding hummingbirds states that "...food coloring may be harmful for hummingbirds." I doubt very much you would intentionally wish to harm these delightful flying jewels, so it might be better to play it safe and listen to the experts. Would you not agree?

No, nothing personal but I don’t believe anything but what I’ve seen. No birds falling out of the sky here or on the East Coast nor west coast and have lived on both and all over.
You use what you want and I will use what I want.
My father was a naturalist as well as I retired as a game warden here. We’ve always used color and always will.
So guess we have to agree to disagree.

 

[RussOnTheRoad]

No, nothing personal but I don’t believe anything but what I’ve seen. No birds falling out of the sky here or on the East Coast nor west coast and have lived on both and all over.
You use what you want and I will use what I want.
My father was a naturalist as well as I retired as a game warden here. We’ve always used color and always will.
So guess we have to agree to disagree.

"...I don’t believe anything but what I’ve seen..." you say.

Interesting logic. Not to be flip, but would seem fair then to ask if you believe in air?

I have never seen a dead hummingbird. So I guess then, that using your logic, it would be fair to say they don't ever die. If my saying these things seems ridiculous to you then with all due respect, you should also see how your statement appears ridiculous.

Just because a hummingbird doesn't "fall from the sky" dead the minute it sips nectar containing food coloring, or we don't find them dead under or feeders, does not mean that no harm is being done. It has been shown that many things cause harm that accrues over time. Lead in drinking water is but one well known example.

We may not know with 100% certainty how food coloring effects the health of hummingbirds, but we do know that keeping it out of their food will 100% eliminate any potential risks.

Let me suggest that instead of coloring the nectar you make for them that you instead color the feeder(s). This would not only keep coloring out of their food but would save you any time, trouble and expense of coloring it.

You and I have no disagreement about food coloring in hummingbird nectar. I am not voicing my opinion on its safety. It's not me with whom you quarrel, but rather the scientists at the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. Nothing personal, but my money is with them. No one can say that putting food coloring in nectar we make for hummingbirds is 100% risk free. The scientists at Cornell don't say that, and neither can you...not with any credibility, IMHO. Why risk their health for selfish enjoyment? That is the question we must all ask ourselves.

 

[RussOnTheRoad]

@RussOnTheRoad is correct regarding the food coloring. It is widely advised to not use it, just the recommended 4:1 mix.

Where are you Russ? I'm guessing Pac NW from the Anna's distro and the cold you mentioned. Do you use eBird and Merlin? I submit checklists a few times a week. Don't feel obligated to feed. They're wild animals and are quite capable of finding food on their own. Just as with songbirds and seed feeders, it's simply a convenient supplement.

However, your little guy might wander off in search of food, making you start all over attracting them.

Going from memory, I believe information I have come across has suggested that a portion of the geographical spread of the Anna's hummingbird is due to natural patterns. However,the same article suggested that as man has introduced garden plants not native to areas and as people have introduced hummingbird feeders that the spread of the birds has been influenced by man and that as a result they do, to some measure, rely on man's benefaction for survival in certain places and/or under certain conditions.

If this is true then to some extent they really are no longer 100% wild and may be less likely to survive under certain circumstances without people supplementing their diet if not replacing almost entirely one that would be 100% natural.

I cannot say with any certainty but it seems to me as a layman a reasonable thesis.

 

[dirkclod]

"...I don’t believe anything but what I’ve seen..." you say.

Interesting logic. Not to be flip, but would seem fair then to ask if you believe in air?

I have never seen a dead hummingbird. So I guess then, that using your logic, it would be fair to say they don't ever die. If my saying these things seems ridiculous to you then with all due respect, you should also see how your statement appears ridiculous.

Just because a hummingbird doesn't "fall from the sky" dead the minute it sips nectar containing food coloring, or we don't find them dead under or feeders, does not mean that no harm is being done. It has been shown that many things cause harm that accrues over time. Lead in drinking water is but one well known example.

We may not know with 100% certainty how food coloring effects the health of hummingbirds, but we do know that keeping it out of their food will 100% eliminate any potential risks.

Let me suggest that instead of coloring the nectar you make for them that you instead color the feeder(s). This would not only keep coloring out of their food but would save you any time, trouble and expense of coloring it.

You and I have no disagreement about food coloring in hummingbird nectar. I am not voicing my opinion on its safety. It's not me with whom you quarrel, but rather the scientists at the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. Nothing personal, but my money is with them. No one can say that putting food coloring in nectar we make for hummingbirds is 100% risk free. The scientists at Cornell don't say that, and neither can you...not with any credibility, IMHO. Why risk their health for selfish enjoyment? That is the question we must all ask ourselves.

Like I said we just have to agree to disagree. No quarrel here bro.