I appreciate your hard work, but I think an "average" date would be misleading to people who are new to hummingbirds. These people don't understand that hummers don't migrate en mass - there can be months between birds heading north AS the data you've accumulated shows (62 days! WOW!). Furthermore, the dates for the FIRST hummers is important for atleast two reasons. 1. Early in the season there may not be as many natural food sources and a feeder out early enough may mean life or death for an early hummer. The first dates are a great wake-up call, as in "Really, they've been sighted nearby - I need to get my feeder out" 2. People who are trying to attract hummers to their yards probably don't want to wait until the migration season is half over to put out their feeder. They want EVERY bird who comes by to discover it, remember it and return. The earlier your feeder goes out the more migrating birds that can use it - the more fun we have watching! I hope this doesn't sound like I'm criticizing your work. I understand your frustration, seeing that hummers are in your area but not seeing them. Maybe Lanny could put a disclaimer on his actual map page noting that hummers migrate individually and it may take months for migrating birds to pass through an area. Remember even his map doesn't neccessarily show the first hummers - just the ones humans spotted and reported. Thank you for your hard work - it's a great chart!

About four or five years ago, when I began actively feeding birds suet, I had a lot of Juncos. I try to add scraps to a tray that sits on my central air unit, and that's where they'd typically eat, but they'd also venture to my hanging suet. I also read that they love fritos, so perhaps adding crushed fritos to my suet attracted them as well. I don't use black sunflower seeds because the hulls contain a toxin that inhibits plant growth - and I'm an avid gardener / landscaper. In addition to suet I also provide nyger seed, safflower seed and wild mix bird seed. Ever since I added millet to my suet the wrens stuck around and refuse to leave. Huge mistake. At the same time I've added more evergreen trees & shrubs to my landscape, and they love the shelter it provides near my feeders. Especially considering we have chicken hawks (coopers hawks) in the area, so I try to keep my feeders near brush or trees.

the sparrows don't show up here but when its stormy and usually after daylight. the juncos are often here before it get light even and stay off and on all day till dark. the sparrows show up in flocks fly in and eat in a hury and are gone and might not be back for days. Only one scraggly ground squirrel here and he seldom climbs anything and stays on the ground mostly and has a tunnel under a shrub in a neighbors yard. Have not seen him since it started snowing. the juncos favor the cracked corn and millet and the sparrows the millet and milo.

I should set one up over Roseraie de l'hay they annihilate her. Steadily increasing population here You just have to hate it. The season is short enough in the north. grrrr