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Post by gaa1331 on Oct 3, 2009 18:14:45 GMT -5
Being new to the forum and just into birding as well, humming I am at the beginning but I believe I had a Cuban Emerald briefly visit my new birding sanctuary I am building in my backyard. I have already had a Rufous, as well, a Ruby-throated Hummingbird visit with in this past week but since this passing of our first Fall cold snap, all have taken refuge elsewhere or are out and about when I am still in bed or such. The feeders are being used by something and they are not leaking. I even have periodically have checked at night for fruit bats but none have been discovered. Hope to get involved in your forum as this seems to be a new favorite new hobby of mine and my being a writer, I can use it as well in my exploits on articles about our Florida outdoors. North Port Florida
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Post by Steve Backes on Oct 7, 2009 9:45:19 GMT -5
The Cuban Emerald would be such a rare occurrence that it would need a very detailed description and preferably accompanying photos. We've all learned to never say never but to be cautious when it's uncommon.
The Rufous is very possible as a number of them have recently been reported in the state although a description and/or photos would be good as well to determine the sex and age as well as to rule out the possibility of it being an Allen's.
Ruby-throateds are expected pretty much year round.
The habits of the birds in my yard seem to change about the time I think I've figured them out. They've recently gone very quiet. I believe this is due to a reduction of new birds passing through.
They are very territorial but learn to get along with the other residents. When it's just the residents, they sit quietly observing their territory, watching for intruders, and occasionally pop down to the feeder for a quick drink. This results in very little noise and little energy being expended, resulting in easily overlooking them.
When a new bird arrives, it's viewed as a threat and gets chased away from any source where it tries to feed. The new bird winds up bouncing from territory to territory being chased away by each territory's respective "owner". As the chases overlap, more birds join in on the chase. These chases usually include vocalizations that draw our attention. They also expend more energy which results in more feeder visits.
The lack of new birds may be why you're seeing a loss of sugar but less activity in the yard. It may also be due to heat, wind, or other other critter including lizards, birds, or squirrels.
A lot of the solution that my feeders lose is due to the expansion of the liquid as it heats up during the day after a cooler evening. But, I can see this dripping throughout the day. I'm always surprised when I can't see the level of the solution in the evening because it's below the rim of the base but in the morning, the level is over the rim again. Is this observation due to expansion and contraction of the Feeder or the solution?
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