By Judy Hoy, Stevensville
On August 22, a lady called me and told me of an unusual encounter with a hummingbird she had that morning. She noticed her kitten was carrying something. When she saw it was a limp hummingbird, she took it away from the kitten. The hummingbird did not appear to be hurt but was not responsive, just lying still. The lady held the bird in her hands to warm it. After being warmed for a while, the hummingbird recovered, stood up and flew away.
When she told me this, I immediately asked if there were perches on her hummingbird feeder. She said yes and I explained that the hummingbird likely became hypothermic from drinking cold sugar water while remaining motionless on the perch. They need to fly to keep their body temperature from dropping too much while drinking cold fluid. Hypothermia usually causes hummingbirds to fall from the perch to the ground or if they try to fly, they flutter along just above the ground. Either allows predators like the kitten to catch the bird. The nice lady promptly removed the perches from her hummingbird feeder. This is the easiest fix there is for a very serious environmental problem.