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Posted by Bob Kelley on 12:37:07 02/24/06
Due to the damage caused to the flowering plants, especially
the true Hong Kong Orchid trees(Bahania blakania), the sterile
ones, our wintering hummingbirds are using feeders this season.
This was a rare occurence in past years.
They set up feeding cycles usually so you often see them checking out the flowering plants at the same time of day. They often use the HKO as a base(defending their home tree against
intruders). You can often see them sitting on a bare branch, and then zooming up ti pick off a midge. Their high pitched twitering
usually indicates their presence.
They rarely breed in MDC, but they do nest in the cypress country to the west. Look for them along the loop road in the summer. I have seen a nest at Corkscrew Swamp.
They usually show up in early September and leave in mid-April so any summer hummingbirds here are worth checking out.
Bob Kelley
RKelley@math.miami.edu
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