Kell, Tom probably found it and put it outside so that it could recover. I have had them come in my house but I can usually catch them because they somehow get between the blinds and the window. I know it must have been very stressful for you especially with all the other animals around.
help me help me help me
Kell
i know exactly how you feel. i have rehiblitated animals in my time including a hummer.
the reason it was lying on its side is it used up to much energy without feeding. hummers have to feed almost every ten minutes as their wing flapping uses great deals of energy. add a little extra sugar to it to help.
if you havent caught it yet hang a feeder right away or it will die. second try to gently catch it and set it free. it will not bite as it has no teeth and the beak can only open enough for the long tounge to come out.
for the next couple of days keep the cats in!!! the hummer outside needs time to recoup and can be easily caught by cats in the next day. or too
if you have a wildlife shelter for exotics take it there for help. its not really a good idea for you to really do anything besides let it go.
these babies shock real easy. if needs rest keep warm feeder where it can get to it and once it start to get its second wind let it go.
to answer your question if its flying its done left the nest and momma and is old enough to take care of itsself. it will actaully leave the nest before it really has any coloring. if you are lucky and the young ones find your feeders you can watch them molt and see there colors come in.
i really dont think you would or will but just to say this as a animal care giver its agianst the law to keep a hummer in any state.
i also want to warn you it may not survive the stress of all this. thats the down side. i hope all is well and they are doing okay.
WOW thanks Imazadi!! Lots of info!! But the hummers are now in God's hands.
I got in at 8:15PM, I was hunting down a rack to put outside to load up 100 seedlings on tomorrow so when I leave home soon for a few weeks, my DH can just aim the hose and spray.
I then ran around the entire house looking for the bird. My DH had told me he looked very carefully also. So I am hoping the hummer took off out the window before I closed it. I am going to believe the 2 that buzzed me as I left are the 2 that were in here until I know otherwise.
I cooked dinner fast.......... and got online! But you are all asleep now!!
I have not had a humming bird feeder because of my cats. I used to have bird seed and a bird bath, but the cats spent their life lying in wait trying to catch them. I have tons of birds though. I have a tree that they all hang out in, and during the day the noise can be deafening. I also have lots of hummers all over.
Thanks everyone for your help, I did try alot of your suggestions! I also learned lots about hummers!!
Does anyone know the name is of that red/pink one? It is so incredible.
it is a Anna's Hummingbird
The Anna's Hummingbird is common in California. More than any other North American hummingbird, it sings. http://portalproductions.com/h/17.htm
Dick
Aren't we lucky to have such a pretty hummer Dick! THANKS!!
here are other hummers in Calif. area... i am lucky to see in my area. Anna's hummer http://www.birdphotography.com/species/anhu.html ; Allen hummer http://www.birdphotography.com/species/alhu.html ; Costa hummer http://www.birdphotography.com/species/cohu.html ; Rufous http://www.birdphotography.com/species/ruhu.html
I saw this and thought of you Kell.
:}
hehehe
Rh
What a day you had! I was reading this and almost fell off my chair when you said you'd let the cat have it. **gulp** I'm glad you were able to get one out and hopefully the other one made his way outside too..... You did a great job under pressure :)
I too was stunned when I read you would just let the cat have it, I was ready to send out a 911 call, then I thought
"she is great to me and I am an ole lady, she would never hurt a baby bird'
WOULD SHE LOL
Doris
to funny RH
This was just to funny..........LOLOLOL
Dee
It sounds like it all might have ended well. All we can do is the best that we can in any situation and you certainly tried.
RH........that is the cutest picture!
Cute pic. RH LOL
What do they say....All's well that ends well !!!
Hopefully this did have a happy ending...you certainly couldn't have done anymore, kell.
I don't think I will ever forget your story and photos! This is a classic "kell" !!!
RH...your picture needs to go along side of kells with the cat outside the glass door by the hummer! Actually they need to go in a contest!!
rh3708, that photo is super, love it!!
LOL Rh! I am going to show that picture to my cats!! I have enough old Hendryx bird cages to house them all!! LOL LOL!!
Thanks Ma Vie!!! We can always count on you!!
Great sites MaVie!!!!! The momma with the 'litter' is so sweet and amazing, I've never seen hummers in their nests. The purple ones are my fav, the color is unbelievable, dazzling, so beautiful it hardly looks real. Reminds me that I must get my wren nests up to keep them from using my hanging pots this year - they are so tame, they fuss when I don't feed them quick enough, I have to feed them high, so the cats can't catch them, but it's always risky, but they are here, cats or not...
u're welcome Kell. so happen i have kept those links on my bookmark/favorites from yrs. ago.
thank u, Sherry. the hummers always have a nest on the trees in the backyard. yes the Anna hummers/purple are so colorful.
MaVie ~ Those are fantatsic pics.... I will have to show my sons when they get home from school. They will love them.
Kell ~ I'm so sorry for your traumas, but I'm glad you shared this with everybody, what a roller coaster ride! I know your cats just loved it. Hope today is calm!
Jackie
WOW, what a story, and I almost missed it. You got some great photos Kell, and I think you handled the situation very well. I knew you wouldn't let the cats have it. Let's believe that the two that buzzed by you were the same two and they were saying 'thanks lady'
MaVie, I cannot believe you have hummer nests in your yard, wow, what a treat, I've never seen one, except photos. We do visit friends nearby, 40 miles west, and several families have hummer feeders all across their front porches and 200-300 hummers is not unusual at the height of the season. They are on the banks of the Saline river, which is small, and conditions are just right. We have a few each season and I'm told that they are abundant, but there is no necessity for them to come to feeders in town because they arrive at the same time the cotton blossoms and there are so many flowers that they cannot resist camping out near the fields...
WOW I love the link for the hummers how pretty.
I must get feeders for them and see if i can get some in my yard.
But i will have to put them up high, farm cats are good at hunting my Kitty's have been having a blast in the new yard with all the birds.
The people we got the house from didn't have cats and i see bird houses all over the place but no hummer feeders.
I had better try and teach the cats not to hunt the bird's if that is possible.
The pic of the kitty came from,
http://www.wtv-zone.com/Blulady/GIFS/Greetings.html
Great little site for greetings I found a few that i liked.
:}
RH
Does this look like Kell's cat looking at the Hummers? LOL
Jackie, u can show ur kids the hummer photos from above posting. u can use this link http://www.birdphotography.com./ if ur kids want to see other type of birds.
yes Sherry, the are almost always around. sometimes, as late as Dec. then comes back in Feb the following year. i have some hummer feeders in front and back of the house. they are fun to watch. the hummers loves the spray of water from the hose. they follow me around as i water my plants in the summer. hummers in the upper desert is so much smaller, but more colorful compared to hummers in Los Angeles, when i used to live down in L.A. i used to have photos of the hummer's nest, i have to look it up. will post photo when i find it. the hummer nest is so small, about 1"x1" in height and width.
LOL LOL yep yep i bet it was like that.
:}
RH
This sort of reminds me of last year when birds (sparrows I think) were getting into our house. We weren't sure how they were getting in. Alex had complained that a bird was "turding" in her room - on her stereo, tv, etc...... we didn't believe her at first because we couldn't find a bird.
Then one day I was here at the computer and a bird goes whizzing past my head and the cat was having a hay day. I tried so hard to catch the bird but it got away and hid. Later that night we found it upstairs in our room, slightly injured, hiding behind a pillow that was on the floor. We captured it and let it loose outside, but it died.
A couple days later - ANOTHER bird. Russ finally found a hole in the rock foundation of the basement that he plugged up hoping that was the way they were getting in.
I hope it doesn't happen again this year! Last year my back & neck were really hurting and I'd jump and jolt when the bird came near me - sending me up the roof in pain. But it's funny now, now that I look back at it.
Oh - hummingbirds have always scared me - they are so fast - always afraid they're going to "copter" smack into my eyeball.
Oh Kell, What a wonderful story, I have been gone for a few days, I am so glad that I didn't miss this. I bet the cats are really ticked off at you for not letting them get the hummers LOL. What a great effort you did trying to save them and what great pic's. So what did you feed the cats for dinner that night to make up for not having a great lunch ?
What cute pictures!
Glad that there was a happy ending. I'm sure that one day, you'll be telling this story to your grandchildren!
MaVie, the hummers follow me around here too, the few that there are, when they arrive, we know summer is really here, then they leave, when they return in Aug, we know fall is on the way.
If you guys figure out how to keep cats from hunting birds, I'd love to know your secret!! Red Parker thinks they were planted here for him to stalk...
Great photos Kell ... what an adventure you all had!!
lol
I am going to be out in the yard most of the time when it gets warm enough.
And when I see one take off after a bird i am gonna spay the cat with the super soaker water gun.
That has kept them from doing a lot of things i don't allow in the past.
So that is how i am gonna teach them to not chase birds it keeps them off the screen door so i think it just might work.
:}RH
Always so much drama in this forum......LOL
This message was edited Mar 10, 2005 7:22 AM
LOL! What a stressful time for all!
oh my God!! What a drama, I lived thru he whole experience as I was reading thru the posts.
sounds like you handled it very well Kell.....I did wonder at your sanity when you said you were going to leave it for your cat.....but knew you must have been kiddin.....