At our November 5th car show a lady from Fallen Feathers Org. was at the car show and I have a picture of her holding and owl in which they took care of at the center. The owl had lost one of its wings.
The Center is at 9532 W. Cielo Grande, Peoria, Az, 85383 623-533-2348 http://www.fallenfeathers.org
I wanted to share some interesting literature she gave out about something we should all know about.
Some facts about Hummingbirds.
338 species in the world. 24 species in North America with 17 species in Arizona.
Lifespan is up to 12 years with average being 3-5 years.
Can fly 45 mph. Flap their wings 78 times per second. Can fly forward, backward and upside down.
Heart rate is 1,260 times per minute.
Can lick nectar. Eat insects, catch then in the air, or steal them from spider webs. Help pollinate plants. They consure half their weight in sugar and nectar each day.
They use spider webs, moss, lichens, feathers, dog and cat fur and othe downy fibers for their nests. The nest stretches to accommodate the growing babies.
Their eggs are the same size as jelly beans. Babies can fly when they leave their nest after about 3 to 4 weeks.
Their feathers are black, brown, white and reddish-brown in color. The reflection of light off their unique feathers gives and iridescence and brilliance to the hummingbird's color. Males are more brightly colored than the females.
Hummingbirds do not have downy feathers to protect them from the cold or bad weather. To conserve energy at those times, they will drop their heart rate and slow their breathing and sometimes appear to be dead. This is known as ' torpor ' and can last from 8 to 14 hours. This makes them extremely vulnerable to predators or people, as they come out of this state very slowly. They cannot fly until their body temperature has reached 86 degrees.
HUMMINGBIRD GENERAL INFORMATION
Red feeders work best for attracting hummingbirds.
Arizona has hummingbirds all year-round so keep your feeders up.
Red tubular flowers are the best for attracting hummingbirds.
Home made hummingbird mix is better for the birds because it does not contain red dye. Use only pure beet or cane sugar for hummingbird food. Honey can produce a FUNGUS that affects the birds tongues and contains artificial sweeteners that have no nutritional value.
Clean feeders throughly each time you change the feeding solution. Use HOT water and a brush that reaches into the container. If you use soap make sure you rinse all the soap out thoroughly.
In the summer feeders should be cleaned and filled with fresh solution DAILY. The Arizona sun and heat cause molds and fuzz to develop very quickly and can be deadly to hummingbirds.
In the winter feeders should be checked daily and cleaned and filled every 3 to 5 days. Any color change in the solution requires immediate cleaning and fresh solution.
Out door Hummingbird Feeder Recipe
1 cup of pure beet or cane sugar
4 cups water...........boil mixture until the sugar is completely dissolved, cool, fill feeders.
Extra mixture can be stored in the refrigerator. Discard any mix that shows signs of discoloration.
Hummingbirds cannot survive long without heat and frequent feedings ( every 10 minutes ). If you find an orphaned, injured or displaced hummingbird, contact Fallen Feathers at 623-533-2348
