Some have learned to use oil platforms way out in the Gulf as rest stops.
thank you for the article. We have 7 feeders and have noticed that the hummingbirds are feeding at twice the normal rate. We had wondered why, but the article states that they have the ability ot lower their temperature to compensate for temperature drops, and perhaps that is what we are seeing. We usually have about 20 or more hummingbirds that are feeding almost continuously now. They will go through 7 larger feeders (32 Oz) in a day, so they have ferocious appetites.
I think the 33 degrees is Fahrenheit and not Celsius.
They are of course preparing for the long flight across the Gulf of Mexico. Just an incredible, mind bending feat. To see them gather their nerve as the sit in the trees on the shore then make that great leap. It seems completely impossible for them or any of the other multitude of birds who fly the migratory pathway twice a year.
I have been out on the rigs when a storm comes by and they become exhausted. They die in the thousands and thousands and the fish have a feast. It is pitiful to watch but it is nature in action. Strangely it is apparently a one shot trip for the birds. They have enough energy to make it and just enough. If they are thwarted and have to land on a rig, if they are so “fortunate”, there is nothing there for them to eat and they have spent their energy reserves and die.
Life is cruel. I see these things and wonder how comfortable we should feel that, “His eye is on the sparrow.”
*ping*