Last year I asked readers of Naturally Speaking (a weekly column in
the Lynchburg News and Advance) to count and report the number of
hummingbirds that were visiting their feeders. I was surprised at the
level of interest when I received reports from 64 people who counted 825
hummingbirds. I decided to try the same procedure again this summer on
August 2, and participation more than doubled. We had 148 participants
who counted 1102 ruby-throated hummingbirds visiting 340 feeders in the
Central Virginia area. A close look at the numbers will reveal that, on
average, participants have between two and three feeders and are host to
about seven birds. The high count for birds was 60, reported from
Bedford County and the high count for feeders was 14, from a report in
Appomattox County. Although the total number of birds has increased from
2002 to 2003, the average number of individual birds seen by a
participant has decreased. Most of the people who sent in comments along
with their reports noted that they had fewer birds at the feeders this
summer. This has certainly been true at my house where on any given day
last year I could spot 20 or more hummingbirds around my deck, and now my
count is about 10.
Thelma Dalmas
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