The two men have observed the bird come back even after recent snowstorms. While feeding can feel like a chore, they dread the idea of not seeing it.
Stephen Crouch was following the advice of the Connecticut Audubon Society, continuously putting out his hummingbird feeder even as birds were migrating south.
He noticed one bird kept coming, so he kept leaving out food.
Suddenly, winter came but the bird kept visiting.
“I noticed a young hatchling sitting on a clothesline Sept. 15th, wasn’t sure what it was until it flew and it hasn’t left since,” said Crouch, of Middletown.
What he said is a ruby-throated hummingbird has been coming nearly every day, regardless of the weather.
Matthew Bell, a travel guide for the Connecticut Audubon Society, said hummingbirds can remain in Connecticut through the winter, although sightings are rare.
“This is more of a genetic situation, the bird is maybe not wired to migrate,” he said.
Bell said it’s hard to know for sure why Crouch’s bird didn’t fly south, in large part because it’s too young to determine the gender.
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Males, though, will sometimes choose not to migrate as far south in hopes of being the first back home so they can stake claim to better breeding grounds.
Birds decide when and where to migrate based on the amount of daylight, not weather. In some rare cases, birds will even remain in Connecticut and try to wait out the winter.
“They’re kind of playing almost like a waiting game,” Bell said.
Bell said birds can survive the winter, so long as they don’t face a prolonged period of extreme cold. Connecticut and other states have been gripped in a recent cold snap, bringing single digits temperatures on some days and nights.
They also need food, of course. When birds continue to visit feeders, the Audubon Society encourages people like Crouch to continue the feeding.
“It’s become a job and I can’t let it die,” Crouch said, adding he has to change the feeder at least three times a week to keep the nectar from freezing.
When Crouch realized the bird wasn’t going anywhere, he reached out to neighbor Gary Keating.
Both men have been feeding birds for years but never got together to watch the animals. Crouch knew Keating photographed birds as a hobby, though.
Now, Keating visits Crouch almost daily to capture images of the hummingbird. Many of the photos show it coming to the feeder.
Crouch feeds all species of birds, but he likes the way hummingbirds feel comfortable around humans.
“I’m trying to hang up the feeder and he’s trying to land on it,” Crouch said.
Bell said some people think the bird will eventually migrate if they stop putting out a feeder.
“That’s not true,” he said. “You may be signing the death warrant of that bird.”
Bell also said bird lovers don’t have to worry about attracting other wildlife with the bird feeder in the winter. The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection recommends removing bird feeders from late March through November and notes that If a “bear visits a bird feeder in winter, remove the feeder.”
Additionally, wasps and ants tend to be the only other animals drawn to the nectar used in hummingbird feeders.
Still, people should bring feeders in at night to keep the nectar from freezing.
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Crouch and Keating have observed the bird come back even after recent snowstorms. While feeding can feel like a chore, they dread the idea of not seeing it.
“You’re kind of left with did it go fly south, did it go — or did something happen to it?” Keating said. “You don’t know.”
Michael Savino is a freelance writer in Connecticut.
