With September fast approaching, I’ve started seeing posts from people who are already packing away their hummingbird feeders. It seems a bit early to me.
For some, they still seem to operate under the assumption that leaving feeders up will entice the birds to wait too late to leave. Most bird experts seem to disagree with that these days. Food or not, the birds will start to leave over the next few weeks, and there is nothing we can do to alter that. They leave when they feel it’s the right time.
I usually leave my feeders up until close to the end if the month. After I haven’t seen a bird at them for a few days, I know it’s time. But there can always be the occasional straggler. You may even find a few hummingbirds around into October.
Although I have to admit, I have been close to just taking the feeder down. Seeing as how raccoons have eaten the flowers off it. Or at least the little yellow wasp guards they put on them.
Raccoons, being the scroungers they are, seem to like to drink the sweet syrup from the feeder. They just tilt the thing over, and let the syrup pour into their mouths. Biting off the little yellow bits just allows it to pour more easily. It probably also makes them really sticky, but they don’t seem to mind. And after they have been snacking on grubs they have dug out of my back lawn, they seem to enjoy a nice drink of syrup. I’ve tried to explain that sugary drinks might lead to type 2 diabetes, but they don’t listen.
But thirsty trash pandas aside, the hummingbirds are still around, and can probably still use food now and then. And since they will soon be leaving on the flight south for the winter, I want to be able to give them a chance to tank up before they leave.
So I’m not taking my feeders down quite yet.