Rare Hummingbirds Likely to Make Surprise Visits to Ohio Feeders in Late Fall

Rare Hummingbirds Likely to Make Surprise Visits to Ohio Feeders in Late Fall
Most Ohioans likely associate hummingbirds with warm weather and flowering plants. And that makes sense, since the state’s only breeding species, the Ruby-throated, arrives from its Central American wintering grounds around late April and usually departs by October.

But for those who offer sugar-water to their tiny, winged friends October and November can be a revealing time at the feeder! In recent years, bird watchers have seen an increase in the number of “nomadic” hummingbird species to the Eastern United states. Often, these renegade hummers are found visiting hummingbird feeders that were left up late in the year.

Ohio’s first non Ruby-throated Hummingbird to be sighted was a Rufous Hummingbird that appeared at a Westerville feeder in 1985. The Rufous is a species primarily of the far western U.S., breeding as far north as Alaska. Since that 1985 bird, Ohio has recorded at least 18 other Rufous hummers. Two official sightings of Rufous Hummingbirds have been recorded in our state this fall.

Our third hummingbird species was documented also this fall, a Calliope Hummingbird that came to a Chillicothe feeder in late October.

Some bird lovers worry that leaving hummingbird feeders out late will encourage these tiny birds to stay into winter, only to perish in the cold weather. In most cases this isn’t true, say experts. These birds arrive on their own, and often are capable of surviving much colder weather than might be expected. In fact, during cold evenings, they enter a semi-torpor, or short-term hibernation, which slows their heart rate and drops their body temperature as much as 30 degrees! Amazingly, there have been a number of cases in which these "winter" hummers have returned to the same feeder year after year.

If you see a hummingbird in Ohio after mid-October, chances are great that it is NOT a Ruby-throated, and is one of the rare vagrants. While the Rufous Hummingbird is the most likely, there are a number of other species that experts say should occur in Ohio someday, like the Green Violet-ear, Anna, Black-chinned, and Broad-tailed hummingbirds.

So for those of you who’ve already put away your hummingbird feeders, take note for next year and see what reward you may reap!