It's that time again!!!!

[dralarms]

I put one of mine out today, I’ll wait till they show up to put the whole lot out

[gary_boom]

Be sure to let us know when they show up.

[owejia]

My bad, thought this was about the carpenter bee season!

[peejman]

13 hours ago, Hozzie said:

No food coloring  regardless of the color of the container.  They just want the sugar water.

1 part sugar to 4 parts water.  Heat to combine and kill any contaminants.   Store in fridge.  It's pretty simple.  Make enough so you can fill regularly.  They want fresh liquid so if it has been out in the heat for a couple of days, they will start to not eat it.  Don't overfill the holder to not waste it.  Better off to fill a small amount daily or every other day.

This. 

Boil the water, remove from the heat, stir in the sugar, and let it cool. 

Need to clean the feeder every couple weeks, they can get kinda gross. 

Don't be discouraged if it takes months for birds to show up. 

Humming birds like running water. They won't drink or bathe in stagnant water. https://www.thespruce.com/provide-water-for-hummingbirds-386404

[Tuffus]

I just got my first Hummingbird for 2019 today. Had my feeder out for about 3 weeks. Will add more feeders as the numbers increase.

[QuackerSmacker]

Well, you guys inspired me to look through the boxes from our move from ILLannoy in October, and I finally found my hummingbird feeder! Never saw a bird at it in 3 years in ILLannoy.   Maybe, like smart people, they decided to get the hell out of that horrible state.........I'll let you know if any show up here.

[quedz]

On 4/13/2018 at 3:24 PM, bersaguy said:

Last Fall I invested in 4 more new feeders when they went on sale so will have 10 up this year................

That sounds a lot like a part time job.

[bersaguy]

13 minutes ago, hughd said:

That sounds a lot like a part time job.

It does take a little time to keep them filled but watching the birds makes it worth while for sure. When a bunch show up at the same time they can put on a good show for sure. I don't know if I will have any birds at the new place. My daughter said she put up 1 feeder last year and did have a couple birds from time to time but she didn't tend the feeder to much and would let it get empty or not change the food often enough and it would turn sour. At least knowing she had a couple means they are in the area so a couple feeders up and maintained should begin attracting more birds fairly quick.

[Omega]

Looks like I finally got two to come to the feeders, hope to get more in.  Do any of you put up nests for them as well, or are they just transients.

[peejman]

4 hours ago, Omega said:

Looks like I finally got two to come to the feeders, hope to get more in.  Do any of you put up nests for them as well, or are they just transients.

Never thought of nests. They're tiny and usually high up in a tree. Probably best to let them build their own. 

[jpx2rk]

We've been having 2-3 at our feeders.  Two males and one female that I know of.  I've seen 2 males at the feeder at the same time, and a female on her own.  Wife keeps those filled.  

[A.J. Holst]

Pleased to report 2 female ruby throated and a female black chinned are providing hours of entertainment.

Possible one of the Ruby's is a returnee from last year.

Amazing little critters, especially the non stop flight across the Gulf of Mexico for winter migration.

[enfield]

Multiple Rubies, male and female, are re-enacting the "Star Wars Death Star Valley" battle today at my house.

Yesterday was the Battle of Britain.

[Omega]

I don't know the name of the type that hang out here, they have a green back, but I think they might of skipped town when the temp dropped.  I had two for the longest time, then a very small one, maybe their offspring joined them.  Then a more colorful male came in a couple three weeks ago.  But after that chilly evening, I haven't seen them.  I have fresh feeders out there, just in case but I think their gone.

Edited September 1, 2019 by Omega
Fat thumbs

[jpx2rk]

We have 2 pair buzzing our house (I think ??)  2 males with the ruby rings around the throat, and then one female with a spot of ruby red on the throat (didn't know it was M or F until the above post).  The other female does not have any ruby on her throat that I've seen, but could be wrong as they don't stay still for long. 

 

I seen a total of 5, maybe 6 playing "it's all mine, it's all mine (the feeders), when they all join in it looks like a WWII dog fight, just with supersonic midget fighters.  LOL

[A.J. Holst]

8 hours ago, Omega said:

I don't know the name of the type that hang out here, they have a green back, but I think they might of skipped town when the temp.  I had two for the longest time, then a very small one, maybe their offspring joined them.  Then a more colorful make came in a couple three weeks ago.  But after that chilly evening, I haven't seen them.  I have fresh feeders out there, just in case but I think their gone.

They can hang out until October.

 

26 minutes ago, jpx2rk said:

and then one female with a spot of ruby red on the throat

https://www.beautyofbirds.com/hummingbirdstennessee.html

26 minutes ago, jpx2rk said:

just with supersonic midget fighters. 

Normal speed is 20-30 mph, escape speed up to 50+mph

Edited September 1, 2019 by A.J. Holst

[seez52]

We've got more now that we have had all summer. At least 5 swarming, maybe 6. I've just got one feeder up this year, but they don't eat it down very quickly because they are squabbling over it so much!

[Tuffus]

I also have 5 or 6 fighting for food. I have hung out an extra feeder. In the last month they have consumed more of my home made nectar than in previous months. I have to make a new batch tonight in fact.

[dralarms]

They’re wearing out my feeders. Got 10 out and they are sucking them dry every 4 to 5 days. 

[A.J. Holst]

Went from 3 yesterday morning to 6 or 7 by the afternoon.

More entertaining than tennis

[Omega]

Well, it seems news of their departure was a bit premature.  I had at least two back at the feeders this morning, chasing each other all over the yard. 

[bersaguy]

I didn't bother putting up any of my feeders after my move. Murieka has one up and it has not had any activity for a month or more but she said she only had two all year. She said she has had as many as 4 or 5 but never a lot and I said if you want a lot of birds you need more than 1 feeder up. Next Spring I will put up my 8 and with her 1 that will be 9 and then we will see how many we get. I'm getting ready to get my seed feeders out and looking for places to hang them so I can see the birds when they begin feeding. I'm probably going to by several shaperd hooks cause there are not a lot of trees in the yard to hang them in. I will probably use the same hooks for Hummingbird feeders next Spring. Will just have to move them around and not put them close together like I do the seed feeders. Now as far as how long Hummingbirds will hand around in Fall. It is normally early October when you begin losing birds to migration depending on weather. An early cold spell can spark them to look at leaving early also.

Edited September 2, 2019 by bersaguy

[peejman]

When I was sick as a dog last week I went out on our porch early one morning. A hummer flew up and landed on the empty feeder, looked at me, chattered, and gave me the stink eye for a moment.  So I gathered the energy to make some food and filled the feeders.  Now there's 4 of them zooming around, after hardly seeing any all summer. Go figure. 

[AuEagle]

We have had a few hanging around all summer, maybe we'll get some during migration.

At our old home, we had so, so many. 2 years in a row my wife went through over 100 pounds of sugar feeding them, our porches were like dogfights.

We had 8 feeders set up, it was a constant circus, loved every minute.

[bersaguy]

15 hours ago, AuEagle said:

We have had a few hanging around all summer, maybe we'll get some during migration.

At our old home, we had so, so many. 2 years in a row my wife went through over 100 pounds of sugar feeding them, our porches were like dogfights.

We had 8 feeders set up, it was a constant circus, loved every minute.

Back when I first moved to Gallatin 20 years ago I saw a few Hummingbirds so thought I would hang a feeder so went and bought one and put it up and that few humming birds turned into a lot of birds quick so bac to TSC for more feeders. Bought 4 more and now had 5 up and had to stop and get more sugar so bought 5 lbs and went home and made about 3 gallons of sugar water and spent most of that day sitting in my carport watching the shows at the feeders. Next time out I bought the last 3 TSC had which gave me a total of 8 hanging. I went a day that I was not home and the following day I went out to check on the feeders and they were all empty. I grabbed 2 and went in the house to fill them and when I came back out and was heading back across the patio to hang them there was 3 birds actually land on them and begin feeding while I walked to hang them up. For about 10 years I went through about 75 lbs of Sugar every summer. Then for some reason I went about 3 years with having birds but not the numbers I was getting and when I moved I was still getting about 20 birds and my neighbor said he would keep them full for me and I took the rest with me when I moved. I spoke to him the other day and he said he still has about 10 birds and said he will save my feeders for me and I told him to keep them and just take them down on Halloween and put them up next year and I will buy more.