BATON ROUGE — It’s only February, but hummingbirds already have their sights set on spring as they migrate back to the United States. There have already been some sightings here in Louisiana.
According to Hummingbird-News’ Facebook page, early migration has started, and people who live across the the southern U.S. have spotted some birds, including in Louisiana. According to the page’s Google Map tracker, someone reported seeing a Ruby-Throated male hummingbird as early as Feb. 14.
Hummingbird-News shared a map of the expected spring migration, saying that it started three weeks early.
Hummingbirds started heading south for the winter back in September, but now, as they had back north, their journey can be much harder.
Hummingbird Central says that the spring migration can be hard on hummingbirds because strong cold fronts moving south over the Gulf can make flying difficult because of headwinds and heavy rain. They also travel long distances with no shelter, and if they’re traveling over open water, food is non-existent.
As the birds make stops along the way, they could stay for a few minutes, or even a few days if there is an abundant food supply. Now that there have been sightings in Louisiana, you can start putting your hummingbird feeders out to help the birds along their journey.
Hummingbird Central says when hummingbirds migrate, their hearts beat up to 1,260 times a minute, and their wings flap between 15 and 80 times a second. To support all of that energy output, hummingbirds typically gain 25-40% of their body weight before starting migration.
You can help hummingbirds fuel their migration by getting a hummingbird feeder and making nectar. You can make nectar at home with a few ingredients, following a recipe like this one. Experts suggest leaving feeders out about two weeks after your last hummingbird spotting, to help feed late migrators.
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