Bird Notes | Warblers, Baltimore orioles make stopovers in Myrtle Beach area

As the daylight hours shorten, migrant songbirds continue to make their way into and through our area. A number of warbler species continue to be seen, including black-throated blue, Cape May, black-and-white, magnolia, American redstart, ovenbird and common yellowthroat.

Red-eyed vireos remain daily visitors to beautyberry and pokeberry shrubs where I live, along with an occasional Catharus thrush species. In spite of our recent disastrous weather, these intrepid feathered travelers continue their southward treks to more tropical quarters for their winter sojourns, as others of their kind have done for countless millenia. While inclement weather may slow their progress at times, biological imperatives drive them along their collective paths, with innumerable individuals striving to return to the remaining areas where their kind have wintered for ages.

A few reports have begun to trickle in of Baltimore orioles visiting hummingbird feeders in our area. Many of these wonderful birds spend winter in our area, and the number of those doing so appears to have been increasing over the past few years. Frequently attracted to hummingbird feeders, orioles are also quite fond of grape jelly, orange sections and sometimes suet. They're also fond of the blooms of Camellias and other flowers, as well as fruits of hollies and other berries. Some of us are happy to find these amazing birds visiting backyards to take advantage of mealworms as well.

Several folks have been delighted to report ruby-throated hummingbirds continuing to avail themselves of backyard flowers and feeders in the area, with multiple birds present in many cases. While most of these tiny treasures will move on, some will elect to remain in our area throughout winter.

Maintaining a hummer feeder in winter will not cause a bird to not migrate. Hummingbirds have been documented in winter along the SC coast for 116 years (since 1909.) Another myth is the avian gems will freeze to death. This is most assuredly not true. Over the years it has been clearly documented hummingbirds not only survive winter in our area, but may even return to the same site the following winter.

One banded male ruby-throated wintered for six consecutive years at the same site in Murrells Inlet, and several other banded birds have returned to their respective winter sites for two or more consecutive years. So keep your feeders clean and maintained with a solution of one part sugar to four parts water with no other additives, and let me know of the activity at your feeders.

This story was originally published October 14, 2015 at 11:50 AM with the headline "Bird Notes | Warblers, Baltimore orioles make stopovers in Myrtle Beach area."