Female Rufous Hummingbird atanew feeder .
About a week ago , I heard a zinging - buzzing phone as a miniscule feather missile ( with a perilously pointy nozzle ) zipped past my drumhead : the first of our Rufous Hummingbirds come home from wherever they hummer off to for the winter .
The picayune guy seemed kind - of check off off , probably because he ’d return from sunny climes to a depressing , inert - gray-haired April Clarence Day in Washington . I could scarce fault him . And it in all probability did n’t aid his mood any that I had n’t put up a hummingbird self-feeder yet , or even recollect to replace the feeder break last descent ( oops ) .
Hummingbirds have the super high-pitched metabolism of a … well … hummingbird , so of course this bird was HUNGRY .
So off I went to town to bribe a big new feeder , then dart home , whipped up a quite a little of hummingbird sugar water ( with expensive organic sugar , no less ) , and hung the feeder in front of our living room window .
Within fifteen minutes or so , I spotted the smoke ( well , a hummer ) sitting on the petite perch guzzling away , and I breathe a Brobdingnagian sigh of relief .
OK , I ’m exaggerating here , but these deceptively adorable birds truly are tyrants — you do n’t require to mess up with them when they ’re athirst , especially if you ’re another hummingbird . In fact , I just learnedherethat our rufous hummingbirds are THE touchy hummingbird coinage in North America .
But badly , I jazz it when our hummingbirds deliver each leaping , and gladly provide them with sugar water so I can watch these gorgeous , fascinating birds up nigh . While the female person have a shimmer green plumage with white and orange , the males ostentate metallic red and orange feathers that make them look like burning embers .
On a few occasions , I ’ve had a super close - up look at them when one of a muss pair of hummer has stunned itself against our window . commonly I put the patient in a obscure box seat until he or she recovers , but once my girl and I took turn gently holding the delicate wight in our hand , marveling at its unbelievable lightness — like holding a feather — and radiate feather . Before long , the hummingbird blinked , fluttered its wings , and shot away .
Feeding hummingbird is easy , fun and cheap . you could easily make your own nectar by boil four cups of water and shake up in one cupful of sugar for a few minutes ( no honey or sugar substitutes ) until it resolve ( get hold tipshere ) .
wish you hummingbirds to light up your spring !
~ Cherie
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