It’s hummingbird season and, for many Fresno and Clovis residents, that means setting up feeders to draw these little birds with fast wings and slender beaks and watch them elegantly flutter around backyards and porches.
But this year, some longtime bird enthusiasts in the area report a significant decline in the number of hummingbirds enjoying the free sugar water.
Joan Lassley, who lives in the foothills near Prather, has been a year-round hummingbird feeder for a decade. She noticed the number of her hummingbird guests has decreased by half this summer.
“I have three feeders here at my house and three at my mom’s house next door. I still change them often. But instead of 10 or 12, I have six or seven typically. Like, I’m looking out the window right now, and there’s only five out there,” Lassley told The Bee.
Last year, about 20 hummingbirds stopped by her feeder outside the nook of her kitchen during peak hours, Lassley said.
Other bird feeder users in the Fresno area say they’ve seen even sharper drops.
“We have had 17 visit my feeders, but this year it is two,” Mary Ann Ramirez posted on a Facebook group of Clovis residents.
”Started noticing it last year. I’ve always had two feeders out with as many as 15 birds, down to only three hummers now,” said Kelli Rogers, commenting on Ramirez’s post.
Data from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology shows that, from 2012 to 2022, the population of Anna’s Hummingbird, the most common hummingbird species in Fresno, has declined slightly by 5-10% in urban and eastern foothill areas, while it increased significantly by 40-50% in the sprawling agricultural land between Highway 99 and Highway 5.
Another less common species in the Fresno area, the black-chinned hummingbird, reportedly decreased by 29% in Clovis. Its numbers dropped by 21% across the state.
Although there’s a lack of sufficient statistical data, experts say that birdwatchers’ observations are plausible.
“We probably need a few more years to get the statistical values to say if there is an overall decrease, but overall, they are not doing as well in California as they used to, so I believe it,” said Joel Slade, an assistant professor of biology at Fresno State.
The statewide decline in hummingbirds is primarily due to climate change, Slade said. Over the past decade, intense heat waves have caused many migratory birds to flee to cooler northern regions. Hummingbirds are experiencing a major decrease down into Los Angeles, Nevada, or across the mountains into Arizona, but the Fresno region is in between, he said.
The data map from 2012 to 2022 shows that hummingbirds have maintained their numbers in Fresno, but Clovis has seen a slight drop, Slade said.
He said the reduction in food and habitat is a significant factor behind the reported decline.
Hummingbirds must eat every 10 to 15 minutes to support their fast wings, small bodies, and long distances to travel, according to the National Audubon Society. In a natural environment, hummingbirds visit 1,000 to 2,000 flowers per day.
Therefore, male birds are very protective of their feeding sites. Slade said he has seen one male bird jump from one feeder to another feeder to chase another bird away, even when the bird is fine feeding off one feeder. The nature of hummingbirds means that unless bird enthusiasts have a large land with lots of shrubs to block hummingbirds’ lines of sight, the feeders would end up serving one or two birds.
Besides the free sugar water from the feeders, hummingbirds also value nectar-producing plants such as sages.
“I notice that a lot of people don’t cater to the native plants, they cater to the highly ornamental. They look pretty to us, but it might not be beneficial to the birds, and they might not be getting nectar from them and might not be producing a lot of offspring,” Slade said.
Ideal plants are those that flower a lot in February and March, when hummingbirds start to build their nest and require a huge supply of food. Hummingbirds cannot survive solely off sugar, though that is where most of their energy comes from, Slade said. But birds cannot grow without protein, and plants attract small insects.
“One other factor is pesticide usage,” Slade said. “Pesticides are going to kill the insects that they need for protein, especially during nesting. So if there’s a high pesticide usage around the areas these people are putting their feeders up, it might impact the insects that birds need to feed their nestlings, and they’re going to have a lower survival rate.”
Unlike some other birds, hummingbird doesn’t have the ability to produce large brood sizes. They only lay two eggs, Slade said. There’s no way for them to make up for any of the other ones that are lost.
To lure more hummingbirds to the region, Slade suggests putting lots of native shrubs and trees to provide cover for the nesting habitat and provide sources of water so birds can stay hydrated.
But, more importantly, hummingbird enthusiasts should clean feeders regularly and replace the sugar water to prevent fungi and bacteria from harming the health of hummingbirds.
Slade suggests replacing sugar water every four days during cool seasons and every one to two days during summer.
“They could tell if the bacteria or fungi growth is high enough, but if they’re hungry, they’re going to try, especially if they’ve been eating from that location for a while, they’re habituated to it,” Slade said. “So it’s dangerous to do that without cleaning on a regular basis.”
Slade said he doesn’t use feeders. Rather, he uses plants because plants are always repopulating their nectar, and plants have their own way of preventing fungal and bacterial growth in their own nectar.
Lassley, the longtime hummingbird enthusiast, said she used to keep a hummingbird bush, which she replaced with salvia and other plants that hummingbirds might like, though she noticed that they seem to like the free sugar the best.
Lassley said her mother-in-law used to really enjoy watching hummingbirds and spread the joy of the hobby to her. Now, it has become Lassley and her mom’s favorite part of their morning routines.
“Just sit and have coffee and watch the birds, I can do it for hours. That’s just always a fun thing that we do,” she said. “I think they’re an incredible animal, just like the bees are, and I think it’s important that we can feed them if they need it.”