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RE: Maybe We Shouldn't Dispatch Injured Birds



I'll put in a plug for hummers in the heat, too.  We found a hummer, belly
up, feet up too, in the middle of a paved driveway on a hot summer day. We
had been around outside awhile before we noticed him, so it seemed he had
been lying there for some time. Looked dead (and fried).  My brother brought
it to show to the kids and after a fair amount of oohing and ahhing, some
movement was noted.  We took a straw of sugar water and dribbled some into
his mouth.  After about 10 minutes, he actually got on his feet and sat a
while.  He perched on my brother's hand where he willingly sat and  took
more sugar water from the straw.  Another 5 minutes or so, and he flew off!
Wow!
Wendy Painter
Chapel Hill, NC

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	RubyThroat@aol.com [SMTP:RubyThroat@aol.com]
> Sent:	Friday, January 25, 2002 6:44 AM
> To:	carolinabirds@duke.edu
> Subject:	Re: Maybe We Shouldn't Dispatch Injured Birds
> 
> Fellow Birders
> May I respectfully suggest that extreme caution be used with hummingbirds
> as 
> well.  This is especially important when dealing with hummers in cold 
> weather.  Torpor is used by hummers as a protective/survival strategy, 
> especially during cold nightime hours.  It is quite easy to assume that a 
> hummer found "frozen to a limb or vine" is dead.  In fact, the locked-feet
> 
> and stiff, cold-to-the-touch" condition seems to leave little doubt.
> Before 
> putting any such bird in the deep freeze, please either leave it alone
> until 
> at least mid-day, or place it in a brown paper bag inside your home before
> 
> declaring it dead and then freezing it.  All hummers do not come out of 
> torpor at daylight!  
> 
> Most wintering hummingbird species are tough as nails and very cold hardy.
> 
> Night time temperatures in the 0 degree range are a piece of cake for most
> 
> hummers in our region, since the days normally warm up into the 20's or 
> higher.
> 
> Bob Sargent
> Trussville, Alabama
>