Hummingbird haven at Gill’s farm
As I look out at my hummingbird feeders watching the ravenous birds, I’m curious how many there are.
Because my feeders are requiring filling every 24 hours, I began wondering just how many birds I actually have who call the Gill Hilltop one of their nutrition stops.
During the middle of the day, it’s not unusual to see two or three birds on each feeder. They rush in, lick up a little sugarwater, and zoom away again, all within two or three seconds. During the heavy feeding time in the early morning and late evening, it’s nearly impossible to accurately count how many birds are present at any one time. Maybe there’s a better way.
I turned to the internet for information, for we all know everything presented on the internet is true. Or is it? I discovered great variations and different methods, depending on who said it.
First, let’s establish some basic facts. I have six one-quart feeders providing sugar-water to a large flock of hummingbirds. Looking out at the feeders this morning before sunup, each of the feeders had at least six birds either sitting on the perch, dipping away, or hovering and flittering nearby. That only accounts for 36 to 40 birds, and at the rate the bottles are being emptied, I’m certain I have many more birds than that flying in for mealtime on my front porch.
I measured the capacity of each feeder, and find they hold 30 fluid ounces if filled to the top of the screw-neck. Six feeders of 30 ounces each, means I have 180 ounces of sugarwater waiting to be consumed. However when I fill, I save whatever is left in each feeder, strain out the bugs, and put it in the last one. The last time I filled, there was 40 ounces of left-over liquid between the six feeders. Subtracting the 40 ounces, brings us down to 140 ounces consumed by an unknown number of birds. Since it had been only one day since I’d filled everything, I assumed together the birds had consumed 140 ounces during that one day.
I found one website saying the weight of a hummer is in between 0.11 ounces, and 0.16 ounces, depending on the breed of bird. This website says the tiny birds eat roughly half their weight in nectar every day. Ah, now we’re getting somewhere. This way, an approximate number of birds can be calculated quite accurately, much closer than by visual observation which is nearly impossible because of their speed.
Calculating half their weight would mean they eat 0.055 to 0.08 ounces per day. It seems acceptably accurate to say they eat, on average, 0.07 ounces per day, per bird. Now I’m getting somewhere. Or at least I thought I was.
One-hundred-forty divided by 0.07 equals 2,000 hummingbirds. That can’t be right. I surely don’t have 2,000 birds coming to my house. Even though at times, it certainly feels that way, for my consumption of sugar is prodigious
I returned to look for other online sources of information. I found another source with different numbers. “Hummingbirds consume anywhere from one-half, up to eight times their weight per day.” Now that makes a little better sense. Eight times sounds as if it might be more accurate.
So we already know hummers weigh between 0.11 ounces, and 0.16 ounces, depending on breed. Let’s assume an average slightly on the heavy side and call it 0.14 ounces. Since one-half their weight didn’t seem to work, then eight times that amount is 1.12 ounces. Therefore, 140 ounces consumed during one day, divided by my ravenous flock eating at the rate of 1.12 ounces per bird per day, equals 125 birds. Now that seems much more possible, and much closer to a number I’ve thought was accurate. It’s certainly more believable than 2,000 birds per day attacking my six feeders.
Not entirely satisfied, I returned to the internet to see what other methods bird watchers use to estimate the numbers of birds. Some folks in the Midwest count the number of birds you see at one time, then multiply that by six. OK, let’s see how that works out. With roughly 36 birds on the feeders, and at least another 10 holding down my fence, that means I have 46 birds in sight. Multiply 46 times six means I should have 276 birds coming every day. I suppose that’s possible, but it still seems a bit high.
Exploring further around the internet, I found another couple who has a slightly different method. They estimate their hummers eat 0.46 ounces per day. With 140 ounces consumed per day, that would come out to 304 birds. That still seems high to me.
If I have 46 birds on the feeders at the busiest time, that’s probably a lot closer to an average of three or four birds per feeder all during the day. So even at four birds per feeder, that’s 24 birds flittering around my feeders. This estimates out to somewhere in the 140-150 range, and that seems a whole lot more plausible than 2,000.
Looking at all these different methods of estimating hummingbird counts, I might as well make up my own rules for counting. Therefore, based on my experiences over the years, I’m inclined to think my birds consume a little over one ounce per bird, per day. So, the Gill’s Hilltop method of hummingbird counting, indicates I currently have approximately 125-140 birds sucking up my sugar-water.
If you followed me through this lengthy exercise in numbers, you’re either a numbers geek, or just plain bored. Hopefully, however, this might give you a way to estimate how many birds you have coming to your feeders.