Meanwhile, back at the feeder.....

the hummingbirds have increased in number in response to the expanded
food supply. Where there were six (by actual count....there may have
been more but there is no way to know that they were all there at any
one time) a week ago, there are now nine. A 50% increase triggered by
a 100% growth in feeders.

Hm.....

Hummers may raise two or more broods in a season but a week seems far
too short a time to induce or even inspire a second mating, let alone
a fully fledged new set of young'uns. Of course, a second brood COULD
have been within a day or two of fledging when the second feeder was
put out. Still, it appears much more likely that the count missed
some birds because some are always waiting in the wings while others
feed. However, this doesn't quite ring true either. If as many as
six can be counted repeatedly, the presence of more birds in the
immediate neighborhood must surely, at least occasionally, result in
seeing seven or more at or near the feeder. This has never been the
case.

The most convincing scenario is that other birds from nearby
periodically come through and, finding an abundant food supply, much
more than be guarded effectively by a resident family (even assuming
they engage in such practices) have decided to take advantage of it.
If this is the case, then adding a THIRD feeder mgith attract even
more birds.....right? Well, the experiment is in progress. I just
got back from the hardware store half an hour ago with the new
feeder. It is now sitting on the table in front of me along with the
first two and the frantic activity of the hummers (mostly harassing
one another for no apparent reason) is a great (if not exactly
unwelcome) distraction as I sit here writing.

The conventional wisdom, as I remember it from childhood, is that
hummingbirds feed on nectar.....period. No mention was made of any
other food source. Well, they didn't (and, I assume) still don't tell
children everything. The literature makes it clear that hummingbirds
also feed on insects. Not surprising when one thinks about it.
Nectar is essentially sugar.....no fats, no proteins, no minerals, no
vitamins, etc. Theat these particular birds eat other things besides
nectar is confirmed by examining the table top in front of me. Birds
have high metabolic rates. They have to eat a lot. This means they
also **** a lot.....and they are particularly fastidious about where
and when. Hummingbirds are extremely active and have correspondingly
high metabolic rates even for birds. They eat a LOT! and **** even
more than most of their distant cousins. I have to wipe the table
pretty frequently to keep it fit for use while the birds around.
Examination of the droppings confirms that they are indeed eating
something or other besides nectar. Nectar (or the sugar water used as
ersatz nectar in feeders) wouldn't result in dark lumpy masses in
turds. These turds virtually always contain such masses. Makes a boy
wonder whether they also ingest gravel, as so many other birds do, to
aid in digestion. Never seen it myself, but I suppose they must.

Other passerine birds are currently filling up on gravel frequently in
the driveways and on road shoulders around here. They need it to
grind up the bonanza they are experiencing. One of the sulphur
butterfly species, or 'at least' one of the species, I should say, is
currently out in the hay fields in stupendous numbers. Millions or,
more likely, billions of them are out cruising, feeding, mating, and
whatever else it is that butterflies spend their time doing. The
sight is phenomenal and makes one pause to consider how much damage
their larvae must do to crops. One can easily see how much damage the
local birds do them. Sparrows, bluebirds, flycatchers and numerous
others cruise the fields or wait on wires, fence posts, or other
perches for their lunch to fly by. No need to wait
patiently.....lunch is bound to arrive soon.....free delivery.
Stopping to look at a particular forty acre or so field en route back
from the hardware store, I had a hard time even guessing at their
density. I looked at what I assumed to be about a ten yard square.
There had to be well over a hundred butterflies in that area.....quite
probably many more.....maybe as many as two or three hundred.

Interestingly, gravel roads and driveways are a good place to find
butterflies as well as the birds that feed on them.....and for
similar, if not quite exactly the same, reasons. Butterflies, like
hummingbirds, feed on nectar.....no fats, no proteins, no minerals, no
vitamins, etc. Driving or walking through the deep woods in northern
Wisconsin and the U.P., an unlikely seeming habitat to the neophyte,
perhaps, I frequently come upon swarms of as many as several hundred
butterflies of various species sitting in the roadbed, especially at
puddles shortly after a rainfall. Getting their minerals direct from
the source, I presume.

Time to fill the feeders. More, later.

giles