Supporting Resident Anna’s Hummingbirds During the Winter MonthsWhen the temperature is below freezing or the snowflakes are falling, and a little Anna’s hummingbird is perched on a feeder or branch, our instinct is to help these beautiful, tough little birds survive the winter. It is amazing and wonderful that they can and they do.

My obsession to help them started on Dec 31st, 2014, when a male Anna’s flew up to our kitchen window and hovered there, clearly begging for food. There was snow on the ground and snowflakes were gently falling from the sky. I couldn’t believe my eyes, unaware that hummingbirds overwinteredin the lower mainland. I prepared some nectar and filled a makeshift feeder in record time. As soon as I got out the door, he flew right up to my face, stared me in the eye, and started feeding as I was carrying the feeder to it’s new home. I have been hooked since that moment and feel a huge responsibility to provide a continuous nectar supply over the winter months for those Anna’s that choose to overwinter here in the lower mainland of BC. Since the recommended sugar to water ratio of(1 to 4) has a depressed freezing point of -2.8 ° C, this only becomes problematic when the temperatureapproaches that. To ensure a continuous supply of nectar when the temperature is heading below zero, there are several things you can do to make this less challenging. Over the years, I have learned through trial and error and hope to help others help these beautiful little birds by sharing my experiences.

It seems to me that hummingbirds, when given a choice, prefer tubular gravity fed feeders to bowl feeders. This is a big problem if the nectar freezes in the winter. I used to bring frozen feeders inside and hang them in the shower. When they thawed, they always leaked. The leaking seems to occur when the air above the nectar heats up and expands, forcing nectar out of the feeding ports. Also, since water begins to freeze at 0 ° and can be seen as frozen ice crystals accumulating in the nectar, thesolution that isn’t frozen has a higher density of sugar in it which results in a more concentrated sugar solution. The hummers feeding on the solution at this point are getting a more sugary nectar which isn’t necessarily a bad thing when the temperature is falling. Obviously, once the solution becomes solid, they can no longer access this food supply. If you have a frozen tubular feeder, that leaks nectar as it thaws, you should dump out the nectar and replace it with fresh nectar regularly. This is because the above process happens in reverse. The concentrated nectar that froze last thaws first and often leaks out of the ports when the air above it heats up. If this happens frequently before the nectar is changed (eg. freeze, thaw-leak; freeze,thaw- leak), the solution may become significantly more dilute than the original nectar and the hummingbirds may not be getting enough sugar to meet their energy requirements in the sub zero temperatures.

Keeping Nectar Liquid At Freezing TemperaturesInstead of fighting this battle with the tubular feeders, I invested in some 4 oz bowl feeders for the winter months, which I replace one by one so the birds have a chance to get used to them. I highly recommend them because they don’t leak, they are easy to clean, and it is easy to keep the nectar fluid when the temperature drops below zero if you are willing to buy a Waterproof Seedling Heat Mat (mineis Vivosun) or the Hummer Hearth Hummingbird Feeder Heater, both available from Amazon, or makeyour own heaters.

The bowl feeders can be placed on a seedling mat if you have a bench or a high surface to put them on in a sheltered area. They keep the feeder about 10 degrees above ambient temperature. We have found they are pretty much fool proof if you cut a strip of pipe insulation just wide enough to cover the sides of the bowl (17.25” X 1.25” for the 8 oz feeder), tape it in a ring, place it on the Mat and put your feeder in it (see preceding photo). I have occasionally seen the birds sit right on the mat when it gets very cold out. The nice thing about the mat is you can put any size bowl feeder on it and it will accommodate more than 1 feeder.

I splurged and spent $50 on the Hummer Hearth Heater as well, which works nicely with a 4 oz bowl feeder. It is simply a red plastic cup with a 4 or 5 watt bulb in it that hooks onto the feeder perch with plastic hooks. Since I keep quite a few feeders going in the winter (my birds don’t share), I was motivated to find a cost effective way of making my own heaters. After a few trials, my favourite one is made out of styrofoam bowls from the dollar store and they work very well all winter. Once you get the hang of it, they are quick, easy, and cheap to make and are very effective. The instructions for making your own are at the end of this article.

Keep Feeding Ports FreeEven when you manage to keep the nectar liquid at sub zero temperatures, it is challenging to keep the feeding ports from blocking or freezing or both. I have domes that provide a shelter from above for most of my winter feeders. When there is no wind, this works really well. However, if the wind is forceful they can be a liability as they can cause the whole feeding assembly to wind up on the ground.

I use a clean soft brush to brush snow off the feeder and a clean stainless steel skewer to poke into the feeding ports, both items dedicated for their specified purpose. It is amazing how often I have been shocked to find a feeder with fluid nectar but blocked ports.

Here are several other things you can try if you don’t have the time to make your own heater.

• Bring feeders in at night and put them out before dawn• Keep extra feeders inside and rotate them with ones that are beginning to freeze outside• put feeders in a protected area where the wind can’t get at them (but the hummers can)• hang bowl feeders in sunny areas – the red lids absorb heat• place pipe insulation around feeders (place handwarmers at bottom if necessary or tape to

sides)• incadescent christmas lights throw off heat – set bowl feeder on top of them or wrap around

tubular feeder• plumbers tape• trouble light (125 W infrared with clear envelope) can be placed 12-18” from feeder

(experiment with distance and place only close enough to keep nectar thawed)

Consider Building a Temporary ShelterI also thought I should mention that every year, we build a small shelter on our deck. This simply consists of a 3-4 foot temporary wall that butts up to our house on our deck. It provides relief from the North winds which seem to be the coldest. We screw a couple of fir or spruce branches to the shelter and hang a feeder off one of the branches. Our original hummingbird, Cupid, spends many hours everywinter sitting happily on these branches and guarding his real estate. He occasionally shares it, but not often.

SummaryIn summary, I would recommend having multiple feeders available around your yard and house so that there are opportunities for even the weakest to hummingbirds to find an available feeder that isn’t beingguarded by an aggressive male or female. There are many other ways to keep nectar available during daylight hours in freezing temperatures, limited only by your imagination, creativity, resourcefulness, and of course time. Keep bird safety in mind. When locating feeders, consider predators. When using electricity, obvious protocols must be followed to avoid electrocution or fires. When providing nectar or warming it with a heat source, make sure it isn’t so warm that it shocks their systems. Do NOT add anything else to the nectar other than white sugar and water at the recommended ratio. Make sure you replace nectar regularly because water will still evaporate out of feeder ports, changing the density of the solution over time, and bacteria still grow and multiply slowly in cool temperatures. And last, but not least, once you start feeding them in the winter, keep feeding them, especially when it freezes out. Otherwise, you will let them down when they are most vulnerable.

Tara Longfellow 10/09/2019

INSTRUCTIONS FOR MAKING YOUR OWN FEEDER HEATER

styrofoam bowl X 2 (just under 6” diameter across top and approx 1.75” deep)sharp scissors or a razor knife (I prefer the latter)craft clip light (purchased mine online for $2.50 US)narrow elastic ( 3mm or less) from fabric storePant hook and bar set (from fabric store) – the packages are about $1.89 and you get 3 hook/bar setsRed electrical tapeneedle nose pliers or jewelry pliersSharpie markerRuler

1) Turn first bowl upside down and measure and mark bowl 1” up from under the lip towards the base of the bowl on the outside. Make multiple marks around the circumference.

2) Using a razor knife or a very sharp pair of scissors, cut the base of the bowl off at the marks. This “bottomless” bowl will sit on top of an intact bowl. Make 3 marks evenly spaced around the underside of the rim about 1/4” in from the edge

3) turn your second bowl upside down and draw a 1.25 “ length line in the center of the bowl. Turn it 90° and do the same thing. You will have a cross in the center. Carefully cut along these lines. This is where you will push the clip light through later.

4) Cut three 6.5 ” pieces of elastic. Fold in half and feed the looped end through a hook and pull the loose ends through the loop. Tighten the loop against the hook. Repeat with the other 2 hooks.

5) Place the cut bowl upside down on the intact bowl (with the cross in the bottom) and bend the pant bars in half around the edges of the bowls halfway between each of the 3 marks.

6) carefully make a small hole through both rims at each of the 3 marks around the edge. Face the hook inwards and using thin needle nose pliers, push both elastic ends through the holes in the styrofoam rims. Pull the ends gently from underneath the bottom rim until the hook is flush with the edge. Tie the elastic pieces so there is a knot 1/4” from the ends. Then gently pull the hook back up so the elastic knot is pulled against the underside of the rim. Repeat this with the remaining 2 hooks. If you do any damage to the styrofoam rim, you can easily repair it with tape.

7) Tape around the edges of the bowls to create a seal. You can use short lengths to accomplish this andmake it look pretty

8) Push the craft light with a 4 watt bulb CAREFULLY through the cross on the bottom until the clip snaps in place (the styrofoam will bend inwards)

9) Turn the apparatus upside down and place a piece of red electrical tape over any holes. It doesn’t have to be perfect but you are trying to minimize airflow (eg keep the cold air out)

10) right the apparatus and place the feeder in the center. Pull the hooks over the perch and hang it outside in a sheltered spot. Turn the light on when the temperature is heading below zero.

If the feeders remain liquid during the daytime but freeze at night, just turn the light on at night and off in the morning. Do not leave the lights turned on if the temperature is above freezing. *We tape elastic bags around the plugs where it is plugged into the extension cord to protect from moisture.

Mr. Noodle styrofoam or plastic bowls are large enough for the 8 oz feeders. You have to make adjustments to the measurements but trust me, it’s do-able with a little perseverance!

* if the nectar starts freezing with the 4 watt bulb, you could experiment with 5 or 7 watt bulbs but keepin mind, you want the nectar to remain just above freezing – not too warm! In Chilliwack, the 4 watt bulbs were just fine and I found a variety in Walmart.

It is important to change the nectar regularly, even in the cold months. Water evaporates through the ports, and bacteria still multiply slowly in cold temperatures.

Tara Longfellow Oct 9, 2019