Skip to content

Letters: Hummingbirds need our help

A Richmond News reader says hummingbirds need human help during the winter months
Hummingbird at feeder
A Richmond News reader says hummingbirds need human help for their survival.

Dear Editor,

I am writing this to remind fellow Richmondites to get those hummingbird feeders out and bring them in every couple of hours when the temperature is below freezing.

Even though these little birds are the most amazing birds on the face of the earth, they still need human help for their survival.

During the summer when there are lots of flowers around, they would only occasionally visit my hummingbird feeder.

I hadn’t thought much about their food source during the winter months, until I noticed more frequent visits from them. So I made sure there was plenty of nectar in the feeder.

One day, while hanging it up, it fell to the ground and broke. It suddenly dawned on me that, without my and other people’s help, these amazing little creatures could starve to death, so I jumped in my car and headed to Dollarama, from where I had purchased the feeder, to get a replacement.

A staff member told me they are a summer item and we do not stock them over the winter months. 

I replied that did not make sense, they do not need our help in summer. When they need it is now: with the snow and frost, there is little to no food for them. So, what you are saying is, we’ll have the feeders available when the birds don’t need them, but do not stock feeders when they are needed.

I got the same response at a second Dollarama store.

After trying at four other stores, I finally found one at Canadian Tire.

I know these little birds are desperate because, every morning, just at daybreak, they will buzz my window near the feeder. 

I say,  okay, okay I’m coming. And when I opened the door and got one leg out with the feeder beside it, one of them was already on it and remains there while I hang it up. 

So, fellow Richmondites, please keep your feeders filled, and if you don’t have one, go get one. These birds need our help. Plus, they are fun to watch.

George Francis

BURKEVILLE