About Central Florida Gardener

Welcome and thank you for visiting Central Florida Gardener. Florida is a unique state in which to garden. It can be frustrating but also rewarding for gardeners who persevere. This blog was created as a resource for Florida gardeners, both new and experienced, in search of information specifically for Florida gardens.

You are invited to participate by leaving your comments, suggestions, tips and recommendations relevant to Florida gardening - don't be shy! Thank you for dropping by to learn more about gardening in the Sunshine state. I look forward to hearing from you! Susan

Monday, November 29, 2010

Are the Hummingbirds Still Here?

I just read a fascinating article, The Hummingbirds of Winter*, in the National Wildlife Federation's December/January issue. According to Bob Sargent, who runs the Hummer/Bird Study Group, "There's no truth to the myth that keeping a feeder up after Labor Day will stop hummingbirds from migrating."

For as many as 15 years now, hummingbirds have been spotted along the Georgia and Carolina coasts during the winter months. In an effort to try and answer numerous questions regarding the hummingbirds, Fred Bassett who heads up the nonprofit Hummingbird Research, Inc. has been banding the birds. To this date, he has banded almost 2,000 hummers of 10 different species in backyards from Mobile Bay (in Alabama) to Tallahassee and as far south as Tampa. Almost half of the banded birds have been rufous hummingbirds (pictured above) which nest in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska.

So, if you leave a sugar-water feeder out during the fall and winter months, keep an eye out for hummers in your backyard. The Hummer/Bird Study Group is requesting that you notify them of any sightings at rubythroat@aol.com.

I see lots of hummers during the summer, but can't say I've ever seen one in the winter. Have any of you seen one in your garden?

*Note: I always have trouble getting the NWF.org website to load. If you can't access that article, you may want to Google "The Hummingbirds of Winter."