[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: Maybe We Shouldn't Dispatch Injured Birds



Fellow Birders
May I respectfully suggest that extreme caution be used with hummingbirds as 
well.  This is especially important when dealing with hummers in cold 
weather.  Torpor is used by hummers as a protective/survival strategy, 
especially during cold nightime hours.  It is quite easy to assume that a 
hummer found "frozen to a limb or vine" is dead.  In fact, the locked-feet 
and stiff, cold-to-the-touch" condition seems to leave little doubt.  Before 
putting any such bird in the deep freeze, please either leave it alone until 
at least mid-day, or place it in a brown paper bag inside your home before 
declaring it dead and then freezing it.  All hummers do not come out of 
torpor at daylight!  

Most wintering hummingbird species are tough as nails and very cold hardy.  
Night time temperatures in the 0 degree range are a piece of cake for most 
hummers in our region, since the days normally warm up into the 20's or 
higher.

Bob Sargent
Trussville, Alabama