time to take down feeder

[nobody]

I'm in the Baltimore area. Is it time to take down the hummingbird feeder, or will they know when to head south even if that food is available?

Alan

[Sheldon]

Hummers know exactly when it's time to depart the same as they know exactly when to arrive. Keep feeding until at least two weeks after you've last seen any. I'm up in NY, they're still here... they seem to be feeding more on my roses, cone flowers, jade plant flowers and others but they still sip that red juice. Why are you in such a rush?!?!?

Sheldon

[Pennyaline]

Birds obey nature. Leaving the feeder up will not interrupt the call of migration.

I leave my feeder up until I haven't seen a hummingbird in three weeks. By that time, every bird that is going to migrate has done so. Don't feel you need to leave it up after that point, as birds that haven't migrated by then are probably too old or ill to survive migration thus they will not survive staying put either. They needn't be fed by us at that point. They've likely stopped trying to feed by then. That's survival of the fittest, and the lower animals are much more compliant with it than we are.