Are Hummingbird Feeder Perches Bad For Hummers
Hummingbird Feeder Perches Bad for Birds?
We have listened to the “perches on hummer feeders are bad and can kill hummingbirds” story. The theory is that hummers would land on a feeder perch in the cool early morning and drink the cold morning temperature nectar from the feeder and this jolt of coldness would cause them to go into torpor,. A torpor is a trance-like state in which body functions slow drastically to economize energy. A torpor is a state several species of hummers practice. Some hummers were witnessed hanging upside down from their perches, while others fell down to the ground and were at the mercy of predators. It has been theorized that the hummers were not moving around and as a result, did not produce enough body heat while sitting to feed, therefore they succumbed to the cold. Consequently perches became a danger should be removed in order to force the birds to hover and produce body heat.
So far there is no scientific grounds to support this theory. Hummingbirds survive in exceedingly cold weather naturally in a state of torpor, so they may be in their natural state on a especially cold morning. Or, while at a feeder, hummingbirds can be stung by bees or wasps, or wounded in the fighting which will happen at busy nectar feeding stations. We have seen birds knock each other totally out of the air. There are several alternative reasons why a hummer may “pass out” at a bird feeder. Our feeders continue to have perches. In our yards, the hummingbird feeders are tiny battle zones. While we know that some hummers will feed peacefully with others this just hasn’t been the case with our personal experience in general. From what we have observed, perches seems to help keep the peace at war like stations. More than one hummer will land on a feeder with perches and eat in an uneasy peace, whereas we have not seen multiple birds hover and be willing to share food. We will keep our perches until there is some evidence which backs up the torpor theory.
Shop for Hummingbird feeders at Hummingbird Feeders or food for the little gems at Pre-Made Hummingbird Food and Nectar Concentrate.