Hi, mehitabe, Thanks for responding so quickly, I have mixed emotions about the hummingbirds leaving, kinda glad I will have the winter birds still around. I have been reading to see if there are some stray birds that make the upstate home for the winter, other than the ones that live here year round. One of the first birds I ran into in late April, before I got my first hummingbird feeder, was a house finch. I had never seen this little red headed sparrow (as I called it, that was the way I also found it at Youtube with the real name). As I read about it, in an article written a few weeks earlier, it was new to our area, (the reason I hadn't seen it before), but I believe they are here to stay, the male and female had two broods this summer adding seven young one's that will be breading next spring? I guess? What I'm getting at, is that there might be a day that we have a year round hummer here, because the house finch migrated east from Hawaii to California to here, and there is a small number of hummers in California, and Colorado, that no longer go back to the mid-Americas, because they have become accustomed to temps in the low 20's F, who knows, maybe I'll invent a heated hummingbird feeder. Nothing wrong with dreaming. Thanks much, keep birding, Robert "Windwalker" ps. While I was here typing I have a new hummer, when the male chases this hummer away the back is yellow the new hummer has tried to get water but the male gives, this is a new male too, so I guess the male in charge has left, to work his way to his winter grounds? He did have two females that he gave chase. so three backs, two green and one is a metallic yellow no matter which way he turns, I got them confused in the chase. It's the new male that has a yellow back, all the hummers so far when they fly through the sunlight have metallic green, but the male. going to stop and see what I have. it has gotten so busy, even have a new bird in the last few minutes, I think it a wren, maybe Carolina wren, not seen this bird except in books, and nature shows. "He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler." Psalm 91:4

I see White-throats every winter here in SE Ma, although they usually stay near brush. Luckily I have lots of brush in my yard and I put feeders near by. The nyjer spillover is a draw for lots of sparrows, including white-throats. I've been fussing the last few days over these two birds which I think are probably juvenile White-throated Sparrows, but I'm not quite sure about the second one. The first one has the beginnings of the yellow dot behind the eye. Neither of these has the strong white stripe on the head, but maybe they're too young, or are of the tan-striped persuasion. Comments or corrections are welcome. The feeder is right outside my computer window so I can watch them while I'm online. Claire

Very nice photo! I still have white-throats here in southeast MA. They're here all winter and may breed here as well although I usually don't see them in the summer. They've been singing away so they may be intent on staying around. I've been learning how to see them more regularly (bribe them with nyjer seed on the ground and look just before it gets dark) so maybe this summer I'll keep seeing them. Claire This post was edited by claire on Mon, Apr 29, 13 at 20:03

I only get a few House Sparrows here but would find a horde of them intolerable and would remove the feeders (especially during the summer/fall, when food is more abundant for birds). There are more active measures you can take if you are willing. I have a BB gun but have never been able to hit one, however I have trapped a few with an inbox trap when Bluebirds were nesting in my yard. I would definitely remove the English Sparrow nests and discourage them from nesting in the Arborvitaes. Another thing I read you can do, is flush the birds from the arborvitaes on very cold nights. They will be unlikely to find new cover after dark and will be vulnerable to predators and hypothermia.