[VAGAbond]

Just wondering if anybody knows how cold it can be for Anna's to still be active? I understood that they became torpid and inactive at low temperatures and assumed that would probably be around zero C. This morning I put our feeder outside, having brought it inside for the night to keep it from freezing, and immediately there was an Anna's on it. The temperature was slightly below -5 C which surprised me.

[snow01]

I had the same experience this morning,I got my hummingbird feeder, and well I was still taking it down the hummingbird was trying to feed out of it, so it just about got its tongue frozen one , that's how thirsty it was. But it still stays active at -5 degrees.
Marnix

[jewill]

My experience is that the Anna's stay here all winter. Here is a discussion, with some good tips on how to prevent freezing, from last year: http://birding.bc.ca/community/viewtopi ... r+freezing

[birdergirl]

Yes those little guys are active all year here. Keep those feeders unfrozen, they need it now more than ever!

Cheers,
Mel

[ogopogo]

got the new, improved version hb feeder, holds 32oz, and it didn't freeze Wed night at -4 (feels-9 as the WN says). maybe because I have it on a shepherd's hook in my rose planter and it's protected by patio glass from the wind. the smaller version froze last Feb though. this one needs to be tipped to let the air bubbles out at the beginning of each fill, so the anna's told me after trying each of the 6 yellow flowers and coming up empty. with it being so cold, Mrs West sits on my rail and actively protects her feeder from the East pair.

[BirderBert]

Time to resurrect my heated feeder post from a couple of years ago! I now have 3 of them out. They have to be under cover but have worked flawlessly for 8 years now! They have been down to -15°C and are left out 24/7 when we get the cold spells!

Components
feeder2parts by BirderBert, on Flickr

Assembled
feeder2assembled by BirderBert, on Flickr

[tocoa]

We live in North Burnaby and we have 4 Annas that frequent our backyard all year round. They come for the flowers and also the feeders. Right now we have 3 feeders, they go out at 7:00 in the morning when the birds become active are brought in at around 5:00 in the afternoon or a bit later. They are hung in the full sun (when we have it) to keep the liquid a bit warm for them. We use the recommended mix of 1 part sugar to 4 parts water but we are going to make it richer, 1:3, during this cold spell. I would love to put up some kind of a shelter for them but I'm sure they wouldn't use it.
At -5 they are very active but I wouldn't want it to get any colder.

[tocoa]

I really like birderbert's heated feeder, I'm going to try it tomorrow before the storm hits.

[birdergirl]

Bert great idea and set up! You should start selling them! A guy in Oregon is selling basically the same product if anyone wants one and doesn't want to make their own:

http://hummersheateddelight.com/feeders.html

Nice to see so many caring folks for the tiny Anna's Hummers. They bring so much joy to us all year through feeding them is the least we can do.

Cheers,
Mel

[BirderBert]

I don't think too many folks would be willing to pay over $50 for a heater system like this but, for me, the convenience of not having to worry about hummers with tongues frozen to the feeder, or bringing feeders in every night is worth it!

The resident Anna's do bring a lot of joy not to mention photo ops!
Anna's Hummingbird by BirderBert, on Flickr

[snow01]

Another way to keep the feeders unfrozen is to do what I did, Buy electrical heating tape in any store, and wrap it around the feeder (you will need tape to keep it on) and then plug it in! it works just fine for me and now I don't have to go out there every hour to thaw it.
Marnix

[nvidia132]

I am in Penticton and have a male Anna's here that has been doing very well. I have a piece of 6 foot heat tape on the feeder and food freezing is no problem, even in -10 temperatures so far. The 6 foot piece was $30.00. You can buy a 3 foot but it was not any cheaper. It really is a good solution to keeping their food from not freezing, I suspect in any temperature. I had to tape it with electricians tape. However, I don't know how it would work with a flat feeder. For those kind, I saw a bundle of outdoor xmas lights that give off a little bit of heat all bundled up right under the feeder.

[birdergirl]

These are all great tips!

Cheers,
Mel

[VAGAbond]

Here is our daily visitor in the snow:



Hoping he will survive the -10C overnight predicted for the next few days.

[tocoa]

At 5:00am this morning it was -11 in my backyard in Burnaby (official temperature was -9) and all 4 of the resident Annas are doing just fine