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RT Hummingbirds possibly double-brooded



Hi, all. Last year there was a discussion here about our piedmont NC hummers
possibly raising two broods a year. At the time I thought that that did not
square with my experience at home, where the hummingbird action always went
wild in early July at my feeders. I assumed there was one brood and that the
babies came out then. But now I've reconsidered because I had the same
experience described by Steve Schultz. Last Thursday evening I came home to
find my small 8-oz. feeder emptied in 24 hours -- up till then it had taken
days to empty. And for the first time I saw a  lot of hummers at once -- 4
female or immatures all in sight at the same time. On Friday I was leaving
for the weekend, so I pulled out some additional feeders and filled
everything up -- a total of 3 8-oz. feeders. When I got back last night, all
were bone dry. Anyhow, I'm thinking this is the first brood of the year and
will be interested to see if I can observe another flush of birds in July.
Are two broods a year in piedmont NC a sure thing or a sometime thing or a
rare thing, or what? Can anyone shed some light?
Ginger_Travis@unc.edu
near Chapel Hill, NC