May 8, 2023 2 min read

I have heard a little chit chat about hummingbirds being back.

There are actually some flowers in bloom. There’s a couple of locust flowers and some empress tree 

There are actually some nectar-bearing flowers available.

There’s always variation in arrival for migrants, especially nectar feeding  there can be a miss time with nectar availability especially with climate change .

One of the ecological relationships that sustains hummingbirds when they arrive early before nectar-bearing flowers are available is sap that flows from yellow bellied sap sucker holes. 

Yellow bellied sap suckers do rows of horizontal rows of holes 

They’re considered a keystone species because of this seasonal. In the earlier part late spring early summer when trees first start having the sap flow again. They’re the species that exposes it for other nectar-feeding species if they happen to arrive before a lot of nectar is available. yellow bellied spa sucker are considered keystone ecologically because of that.

any species is protected by genetic diversity and environmental variation in migratory arrival time. not every individual is going to arrive at the same time. There could be mortality if there is a mistime between a food resource and a migratory arrival.

Hummingbirds are probably OK given the necar that’s available and I would not say this is a poorly times arrival. There’s always the sapsuckers to keep them sustained.