Louisiana Hummingbirds

Just before sunrise, a quiet Covington neighborhood breaks into a buzzing chorus of wings and chirping from hummingbirds migrating through Louisiana. Dozens of hummingbirds, their tiny bodies flickering in the half-light, swarm the feeders hanging from Margaret “Birdie” Owens’ back porch and trees.

woman in red t-shirt hands red hummingbird feeder in tree — Margaret “Birdie” Owens hangs hummingbird feeder in her Covington, LA yard

grooming her backyard for louisiana hummingbirds

“I’ve been filling my feeders three times a day this past week,” Owens said. “And don’t take your feeders down. Make sure they’re clean. That’s the biggest thing.” For nearly four decades, Owens has transformed her yard into a sanctuary for migrating birds. On peak fall mornings, she says, “hundreds of hummingbirds” fill her trees and feeders, a spectacle that has turned her into a fixture among bird enthusiasts in south Louisiana.

juvenile male ruby throated hummingbird at red flowers — A hummingbird feeds on flowers in Owen’s yard.

a lifetime of louisiana hummingbird research

Among Owens’ regular visitors is Nancy Newfield, widely regarded as one of Louisiana’s foremost hummingbird experts. Newfield has been catching and banding the birds since 1979, when she obtained her federal permit. Since then, she has banded and documented nearly 25,000 individual hummingbirds across the state.

woman wearing red shirt and cap sits at table banding Louisiana hummingbirds — Nancy Newfield at work banding hummingbirds

“My goal was to document the hummingbirds that came to Louisiana to spend their winter months, which was a phenomenon that was unknown at the time,” Newfield said. What began as a curiosity grew into a lifetime of fieldwork, lectures, and tours that have taken her from Louisiana neighborhoods to birding trips across the Americas. Asked what she has learned over four decades of research, Newfield said: “I’ve learned that we have different hummingbirds coming into, staying, or going through Louisiana 12 months out of the year.”

tiny birds, big journeys

The birds that appear in Owens’ backyard are mostly migrants. Ruby-throated hummingbirds pass through Louisiana on their way from the Appalachian Mountains to Mexico and Central and South America. Some fly up to 100 miles in a single day, doubling their body weight along the Gulf Coast to prepare for the long journey.

A backyard feast for the migrating hummingbirds

“Most people think a hummingbird is a hummingbird,” Newfield explained. “But it’s one of the largest families of birds in the Western Hemisphere. There are over 350 species, and Louisiana now has 14 species on the state list.”

boy in black t-shirt releases hummingbird — Owen’s grandson Maverick helps her releases a hummingbird.

passing on the wonder

Owens, who grew up in New York putting bread out for cardinals, says her work is about more than just feeding birds. “I do it because I want people to know what a wonderful thing we have here in Louisiana,” she said. “And I do it for the kids. I want that to be imprinted in their brains. So 30 years from now, they’ll remember, oh yeah, I’ll take care of the birds.”