Sunday 12 January 2020

Anna's Hummingbird

It's a very wintery evening with snow, sleet and wind.  We were over at youngest son's to play Mexican Train and on the short drive home we passed an accident just as the ambulance was leaving. It appeared to be a single car that had gone over an embankment. Driving in these conditions is treacherous.

When the weather is this bad we take the hummingbird feeders in for night. I'm always amazed that such a tiny bird can survive in below freezing temperatures. This is what the internet had to say about the Anna's, which is our most common winter Hummingbird ( although I've spotted at least one Rufous as well)...


Anna’s  take advantage of the hummingbird’s motto “When things get tough, the tough go to sleep.” A hummingbird in torpor can drop its body temperature from about 40°C to about 9°C (from 104°F to 48.2°F) and reduce its respiration rate from 245 breaths per minute to 6. It can even suspend its breathing for up to five minutes. The metabolic rate of an Anna’s during torpor can be 300 times lower than when in flight. The savings are significant; they can help a hummingbird sleep through a severe weather period.
A typical winter day might find an Anna’s sucking sugar, slowly turning it to fat, and then going into torpor during the night, living off the stored fuel. An Anna’s can gain 16 percent of its body weight during the day and then burn it all off during a cold night. (Imagine waking every morning 25 pounds lighter.) The fluctuation is extreme enough without adding the energetics of flight. Regardless of the season, awake and flying, a hummingbird is always just a few hours from starvation.





The pictures of the Anna's are also from the internet.


I think it is going to be a week of staying home where it's safe and warm. I hope to take down the second Christmas tree and try to fit the various boxes into my "Christmas Closet" which is under the stairs.  In spite of taking several boxes to the thrift store I seem to have accumulated more than I started with.  I hope you all have a great week no matter what the weather.

Thanks for visiting,  Granny M.


14 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing how this tiny bird survives winter cold. Nature is so amazing and never ceases to fill me with wonder. I have seen hummingbirds when visiting daughter in Arizona (during summer), but we do not have them here.
    Stay cozy and warm and enjoy your winter season. It is very hot here today.

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  2. That was fascinating. I had no idea. I never see hummingbirds around here in the winter. It's snowy, icy and COLD here too. I don't plan to go out much for the next week. I love to hibernate during this kind of weather but my dear husband has to be out driving to and from work every day. That worries me.
    Stay safe and warm my friend.
    Blessings,
    Betsy

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  3. Your header is quite stunning and the images of Anna's Hummingbird take me right back to time spent on Vancouver Island.

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  4. I've never seen a hummingbird. Lovely colors, nature down to the tinyist details, nothing is lost. So little and fragile, and yet so strong and resilient.

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  5. What interesting information about the hummingbirds. We only see the ruby-throated hummers and then only for a few months in the summer. How cool that you see them in the wintertime too. We still have all our Christmas decorations to take down....but medical appointments come first this week and next....so eventually we will get it all done. Thanks for your blog! Sorry about the people in the accident....I am praying for them.

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  6. That information about the Anna's Hummingbird is amazing. It doesn't even seem possible. That's nature. Seems like I always have lots more Christmas stuff to put away, even though I clean out and give away too. :)

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  7. Those humming bird facts are very interesting!! They are amazing little things.

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  8. I did not know that about the Anna's Hummer...always learning something new while blogging.

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  9. I've never seen hummingbirds here in the winter. I rarely see them in the summer so maybe that's not unusual. Most of our Christmas is down and put away. The snowmen that I collect are still out for the month of January, then I will swap them out for Valentine decorations.

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  10. Thanks for the information about Anna's hummingbirds. We have a resident pair here that are using the feeder we finally put up, plus the few flowering things we have in the yard.

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  11. Very interesting about the hummingbirds! It sounds like your treasures are reproducing. Watch out! They may take over the house! lol Stay inside and safe!

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  12. Thanks for the information... what a wonderful bird.
    Greetings to you. Viola

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  13. I love hummingbirds. We see them only for a short period of time here. But I am flocked with red birds most all year round. Well, as long as I keep feed in the feeder. Right now we are seeing tons and tons of beautiful robins in our yard. Girl, stay in and stay warm. That sounds like you have some rough cold weather right now. We are experiencing summer days right now. That is Florida for you though. One day I was wearing my winter top with a scarf and the next day I was wearing short sleeves and almost drug out my shorts! YEP! Crazy. Happy 2020 G.M.
    Hugs and blessings, Cindy

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  14. I think it is Anna's Hummingbirds who drink at my feeder. They are the most common around here. They seem to be pretty consistent year-round, since it is such a mild climate... I say "they," but really I think there is just one who rules that "roost."

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