Where Are All The East Texas Hummingbirds?

If you live in Eastern Texas, and you’ve already put out your hummingbird feeders for spring, you may have noticed that the little birds have yet to be seen in the area. KETK News recently reported on the missing East Texas hummingbirds, which typically start arriving at the beginning of March.

It seems that the weather in East Texas is to blame. According to KETK, a delay in plant growth due to the cooler weather has prevented the hummingbirds from migrating to the area yet, as their migratory pattern is based on following food sources. Now that temperatures have started to trend upward, you could start to see hummingbirds buzzing around your feeders any day now.

Ashley Pellerin of Prairie View A&M University tells KETK, “Because we’ve had such a mild winter and then we turn around and, you know, our spring is actually cool—with those cooler temperatures so late, often their migratory pattern that we’re not, there’s not food available for them so they’re kind of delayed.”

Some Texans are worried that the absence of the birds could mean a longer stretch of cool weather ahead, but there’s no cause for concern. The flitting beauties should be popping up within the next several weeks since the spring has finally arrived in the area.