This
hot July Sunday afternoon brings me back to the Roxborough State Park’s
Visitors Center. Volunteer Naturalist Jill Parker is about to give an
informal talk about hummingbirds on the patio. “Fascinating Life
of Hummingbirds” is the theme. A group of nature lovers is already
seated on the benches and Jill has prepared a table with all kinds of
literature about hummingbirds and a map showing their migration route
to Mexico.
From
time to time we are joined by a broad-tailed hummingbird; visiting the
bright red feeder next to the building’s entrance and enjoying
its sweet nectar. It supports the birds in their endless search for
food.
Jill
explains the map. Two red marks show the departure and destination locations
for the hummingbirds. Their trip from Colorado to Mexico is about 1,500
miles long and some even take the long route over the waters of the
Gulf.
Jill
points out how important it is for the survival of the species to have
their habitats along their migration routes protected and intact, otherwise
the birds will starve on their flight to their winter domicile. Hummingbirds
have a high metabolism and therefore a healthy appetite. Their diet
consists of about 60% insects and 40% nectar. Before migration, birds
will “fatten up”, they’ll gain an extra 50% of their
normal body weight as reserve.
Hummingbirds
are the smallest birds on our planet, weighing just an ounce. Their
wings can beat more than 60 times per second and form a figure eight
while ‘buzzing” through the air. Just watch their aerobatic
display as they are able to fly up, down, forward, backward, as well
as sideways. The show includes stopping in midair. The movement of their
wings causes the familiar humming sound.
Hummingbirds’
activities stop during night, when they fall into a deep sleep one can
compare to hibernation, this state is called torpor.
Hummingbirds
will defend their territory against invading birds. The female lays
on average 2 eggs into a nest woven out of materials like lichen and
spider webs. Check out the tiny hummingbird nest on display at the Roxborough
State Park’s visitor center.
Hummingbirds are very colorful which happens due to refraction of light.
These beautiful little creatures also play an important role in the
pollination process.
Our group is joined by four young ladies who belong to the girl scouts:
Tia, Kimberly, Andrea and Megan. Their group’s leader, whose name
is also Jill, encourages them to ask questions about the life of hummingbirds
and get all the answers the girls need to complete their assignments.
There are molasses, blue and green colored water and corn meal on the
table. Jill Parker has brought all these items from home to explain
the pollination process.
It looks like the girls enjoy the slightly messy experiment. We all
appreciate everything we learned today.
If you would like to get a hummingbird feeder for your garden here is
Jill’s recipe for nectar:
1 Part Sugar
4 Parts Water
Boil 2 minutes, let it cool down, fill into feeder.
Clean feeder thoroughly after 3 days to prevent bacteria growth, which
can harm the birds.
Then
just welcome your new colorful friends from spring to fall.
Angelika
Koehne
