What do hummingbirds eat in the winter?
What do hummingbirds eat in the winter?
Hummingbirds are beautiful small birds, but how do they survive a cold winter? Especially when you consider that such a significant portion of their diet includes insects which are scarse to entirely non available in some areas during winter?
As you may expect, many hummingbirds solve this problem the same way as several other birds by migrating south to a warmer climate for the coldest months of the year. This means that they have a great food source of insects year round, just dependent on location. It also allows them to remain in a warmer climate year round, rather than having to fully adapt to a true winter.
What else can hummingbirds eat?
Insects aside, hummingbirds also thrive on very high sugar nectars (even as simple as a white sugar and water mixture will do in the right ratios). Luckily, this makes it easier for humans to supply them with food year round! In particularly cold areas it is important to remember that water has a freezing point of 0 degrees celsius. Therefor, a small heater or lamp may be required nearby to keep food (and water) in liquid form and available for the hummingbirds. Let’s keep our areas friendly for these incredible creatures!
Looking for some more information on Hummingbirds? Check out these links!
https://hummingbirdmarket.com/pages/feeding-hummingbirds-in-cold-weather
Check out some of our other recent articles for more fun facts!
