Male hummers migrate now; others later
Something happens in late August that sometimes causes depression among folks who really love their hummingbirds: The males pick up and leave, heading back to the tropics.
Jim McCormac, a bird expert, said most of the males will leave by the end of August, but the females and the young born this year will stay around until the end of September. Then, real desolation will set in.
Most of the hummers fly south, flying either over the Gulf of Mexico or around it to southern Mexico or Central America. It always amazes me that those little birds can fly over a body of water as big as the gulf.
McCormac told me a bit of news regarding hummingbird migration that might give some solace to those folks in mourning; it makes their beloved hummingbirds seem not so far away. He said hummingbirds increasingly are overwintering in the Gulf Coast states rather than flying on to Mexico or Central America. That means that folks might even have a chance to visit them during a winter vacation along the gulf.
My wife and I have had more hummers this summer than ever. For the first time, we often have had to refill the hummingbird feeder because it was empty, not because the sugar-water solution was old.
McCormac said that if you see a hummingbird in October, it could be a species other than our usual rubythroats. Vagrants sometimes show up in the fall; the rufous hummingbird is the most common one, he said.
Here are a few tidbits about other Ohio birds in August.
Male hummingbirds are not the only birds that begin migrating this month. Some species of swallows, such as barn swallows, do so, as do many shorebird species. Many of those migrating shorebirds, which nested far to the north, stop in Ohio to rest and refuel, giving bird- watchers an opportunity to take a gander at them.
The beautiful goldfinches, which remain year-round, hold off on nesting until now. One reason is because they love to use the fuzz they gather from mature thistles to line their nests.
Goldfinches are visiting my flower garden to pick the seeds out of the old purple coneflowers. They add a nice touch to the garden.
Finally, I was closely watching a couple of killdeer at Glacier Ridge Metro Park the other day when I heard them making their calls. They were calling, “kill-dee, kill-dee, kill-deer.”
McCormac told me there is a special name given to birds who sing their name: “onomatopoeia.” That’s a mouthful. Many species of birds do that: A couple of others are the whippoorwill and black-billed cuckoo.
Many a night, while camping out in a woods, I have heard whippoorwills singing through the night. It is so beautiful.