Falling for birds

Copyright: birdgirljess
For most of us in the country, fall is just around the corner or already presenting itself. Here in the East, the leaves are turning slightly and beginning to drop off the trees, but the warm temperatures belie any indication of autumn. Even so, the birds know what time of year it is and they are busying themselves for the coming winter. This week-end someone told me to take down my hummingbird feeders and I had to gently let them know that it is perfectly fine to leave them up. They were afraid that by leaving them up and full, that the hummingbirds will stay and delay their trip across the gulf and will in turn get too cold and die here or get caught up in nasty winter winds and storms. NOT SO! Birds are smarter than we give them credit for and while they may not be the mist intelligent creatures on earth, they do have a very powerful feature on their side that prevents them from making drastic, population-decimating decisions and that, my birding friends, is INSTINCT! They know when it's time to leave and believe me, right now is the equivalent of a bunch of white folks chowing down at the Golden Corral! They are gorging themselves to store up enough energy for the flight, so please leave your feeders up and full so they can partake of your energizing food!

Information from: Sibley's Guide to Birds and Bird Behavior by David Allen Sibley.