December Jacksonville sightings

[starrjax]

I had decided to leave a couple of my feeders out just for any lagging hummingbirds. Additionally I have about 5 shrimp plants that are in full bloom.

I wasn't certain whether I would see a Hummer and was about to take my feeders down for a month or so when much to my happy surprise, I spotted a very plump Hummer nesting in my orange tree. He then flew over to the feeders and then over to the shrimp plant.

He was very plump :-) which tells me that perhaps he's just been hanging around instead of on a journey.

Of course I then refreshed my feeders and added a couple more. In 2 days I saw another hummingbird that was about half the size of the first bird that I had seen.

These birds really had no signs of the Ruby throat, my guess is that perhaps they are both female.

I'm so excited that I left my feeders out and that my shrimp plants helped them replenish for any trip or staycation they have in their future.

Happy New Year to all.

[Joe M]

Dec 31, 2018 9:36:20 GMT -5 starrjax said:

I had decided to leave a couple of my feeders out just for any lagging hummingbirds. Additionally I have about 5 shrimp plants that are in full bloom.

I wasn't certain whether I would see a Hummer and was about to take my feeders down for a month or so when much to my happy surprise, I spotted a very plump Hummer nesting in my orange tree. He then flew over to the feeders and then over to the shrimp plant.

He was very plump :-) which tells me that perhaps he's just been hanging around instead of on a journey.

Of course I then refreshed my feeders and added a couple more. In 2 days I saw another hummingbird that was about half the size of the first bird that I had seen.

These birds really had no signs of the Ruby throat, my guess is that perhaps they are both female.

I'm so excited that I left my feeders out and that my shrimp plants helped them replenish for any trip or staycation they have in their future.

Happy New Year to all.

Identification of hummingbirds is often difficult unless you have seen many of different species and know what to look for. Unless you happen to have a western species which are often seen in FL during our winter months your birds were probably Ruby-throats, the most common in FL. A "nesting" hummer has never been reported in FL during the winter months, so it may have been perching and only returning to a favorite perch!

I always encourage folks to keep at least one feeder out, year round in FL, especially if you have blooming plants in your yard. Don't fill them to capacity, 4-5 ounces is enough since you will not have enough hummers to empty your feeder before the solution spoils, 3-5 days in the shade, 2-4 in the sun. Keep the feeders clean with fresh solution and if your unable don't keep a feeder up simply because their is solution in it. Very bad for the hummers to ingest spoiled solution.


Congratulations on spotting your hummers and I'm sure you will have more over the years.