Hummingbirds staying in area longer than usual

A rufous hummingbird frequenting the feeder of Rodney and Glenda Eddleman since Oct. 12 is still arriving for meals even in late December. He was sighted at 6:45 a.m. Saturday.

"He came for a drink very early and when it warmed up a little he was back. Boy, he was really drinking then," said Glenda Eddleman.

Her son, Bill Eddleman, is a professor of biology and chair of the department at Southeast Missouri State University and teaches ornithology. He said six of these birds have been sighted in eastern Missouri this year -- four in St. Louis, one in Cape Girardeau and one in Farmington.

When it was warmer the Eddlemans didn't pay much attention to the hummingbird. Now the feeders out on the deck must be brought in every night since the temperature has dropped, Glenda Eddleman said.

Lanny Chambers, a licensed bird bander serving the St. Louis area and this region, was invited by Bill Eddleman to band the bird. This procedure helps provide data on where the birds go, whether they reappear annually at the same sites and their lifespans. The Eddlemans' hummingbird was identified, weighed, banded and fed before being set free on Oct. 14.

The rufous hummingbird -- rufous means brownish-red or rust-colored -- is "a little bigger than most hummingbirds," Glenda Eddleman said. "It's a thrill to watch. A ruby-throated hummingbird had been coming around, but it seems the rufous hummingbird scared him off."

She normally mixes one-quarter cup of white sugar with a cup of water as feed for the hummingbirds. To avoid freezing, she's reduced the water to three-quarters of a cup.

Rufous hummingbirds breed in the Pacific Northwest, through British Columbia and along the coast into Alaska's Kenai Peninsula. Although most winter in southern Mexico, some return to the southeastern states annually as confirmed by repeated recaptures of banded birds. Some pass through Missouri to get there.

Some experts think rufous hummingbirds tend to migrate in long jumps with lengthy stops en route to replenish fat reserves if conditions are favorable.

Chamber said rufous hummingbirds in Missouri tend to remain as long as feeding is good. Since about half their diet is small insects, food supplies are less reliable as temperatures drop below freezing.

Rufous hummingbird numbers in the Gulf states continue to increase into late January or early February. It may be that the birds spend most of the year making a huge loop around the continent with a two-month stop in late spring for nesting.

Chambers believes they aren't lost or defective but that their habits are a result of gene inheritance. He believes rufous hummingbirds have probably been passing through the area for millennia and that increased public awareness, aided by the Internet, is responsible for the rise in reports.