Hummingbirds!!!

[bersaguy]

Well I have said if you hang them they will come and my daughter told me I was wasting my time cause she has lived here 18 years and not seen 1. Well I hung them a month ago and have not seen any. Today I brought the feeders in and wash them and put fresh nectar in them and about 1 hour ago I had a small bird on one of the feeders and so far he has been back about 5 times. He is a small Redneck male. I am guessing he was born this past year since he is so small but 1 is a start and were there is one there is usually more. I have 5 feeders up so we shall see!!!!!

[TomInMN]

One of the great pleasures of my life has been watching hummingbirds with my grandpa out his big front window, talking about their journey, being surprised more than once at how aggressive they can be. Amazing critters!

Edited June 6, 2020 by TomInMN
Typo

[A.J. Holst]

Doug, I put out my feeders about 30 days ago, saw one, and nothing since.

We normally get the swarm in late summer.

Today is cleaning day, I'm always hopeful someone will show up!

[bersaguy]

1 hour ago, A.J. Holst said:

Doug, I put out my feeders about 30 days ago, saw one, and nothing since.

We normally get the swarm in late summer.

Today is cleaning day, I'm always hopeful someone will show up!

That is about when I put mine out and didn't see any birds for all that time. Took them all down and washed them and put new nectar in them and that one little male showed up and he came back to the same feeder all afternoon and evening.  As far as a month ago, I was not expecting to get any homesteaders but thought I might get  a few travelers that will find feeders, stay a couple days and get back in the migration. I may have had them and just missed them but I think this little male will stay here till Fall. 

[peejman]

We had a couple for a week back in April, but none since. Need to clean the feeders again. 

[Omega]

I started three years ago, first year, nothing.  I had the  bottle type and they kept leaking, so only the ants got fed.  I switched last year to the bowl type and two showed up, with a third (baby) showing up later.  Now I have two that have homesteaded, possibly the same two as last year.  One is easy to recognize as it stands and eats while the other hovers there while it feeds.  Don't know what type they are as I can't see much color on them but my granddaughter and I like to look at them fly around nonetheless. 

[monkeylizard]

Had plenty last year. I put the feeder up about a month ago, and had nothing for several weeks. I took and down, cleaned it, and put it away with plans to put it out again in mid June. Today Mrs. 'lizard saw a blue one in my vegetable garden so I refilled the feeder and put it out. Hopefully they'll find it and start hitting it. Maybe they're just a little later than usual moving back North.

[bersaguy]

When I lived in Gallatin I had these same feeders up and could not keep them full. I would have 25+ birds fighting over them all day long. I was thrilled to see that youngster show up and he came back today several times. I have been looking from time to time all day but still only the little one but I know if there is one there will be more or already is and I just have not looked at the feeders when they are on them. I get great pleasure watching them perform their games......

[jpx2rk]

WE have two so far, it's been a slow year for watching the little boogers.  The ones we usually have are mostly dis-functional as one guards both feeders by chasing off all the others.  I think there is a small one but not sure so we could have 3, but it's hard to ID them except for male vs female.

[Luckyforward]

I have had some "hummers" every year in varied numbers.  This year I have been more diligent in cleaning the feeder weekly and keeping fresh nectar in it and there has been a great increase in hummingbirds!  Watched two duel each other for over 45 minutes last night as each wanted the feeder for themselves!

[Tuffus]

On any given day I will have between 1 and 5 working on my feeders. Last year I consistently had 4-10. Hoping to see more activity as last year when they really started good in mid June.

 

[bersaguy]

This is a new place for me to have feeders up and my daughter told me that she as lived here 18 years and not seen any but I think if you hang feeders they will come eventually and the other day I had one small male show up and he has decided to hang around and has been on the feeder everyday since the first test of the nectar. I figure where there is one there is more so I will start watching the feeders more to see if I get more. 

[BHunted]

Had about 2 dozen last year with 3 feeders hanging off our deck. This year is a slow start but it's getting there. Feeders should be cleaned regularly and we usually clean them when we replace the sugar water. What made a difference with us is we hung flowers baskets at the same level as the feeders. They are attracted to red, and they really love Hibiscus. They play hide and seek in the flowers too. Comical lil buggers.
But whether or not they are feeding, you are suppose to change the mix cause it will go bad. When they do start coming and the feeders are low, they tap and look in our kitchen window and/or come around to the other side of the house to see if I'm in the garage basically saying, we need more juice dad!

PS: The red necks usually grow up to be the boss birds and they -will- bitch out other birds and families other then their own. They'll sit a little higher than the feeder and watch and wait.

Edited June 8, 2020 by BHunted

[bersaguy]

Back where I use to live at one time I had 2 feeders up and more birds than I had feeders for so I went and go 2 more and soon I had more birds than 4 feeders could serve so I went and bought 4 more for a total of 8 and that seemed to work. I can remember one day in particular, hot mid summer and I was gone fishing for three days and when I got back home the birds let me know right quick that something was wrong and the feeders were empty and I always keep a gallon of sugar in the fridge for emergencies and this was one so I went and got two feeders took the in the house and washed them and filled them and as I went back out and started for the patio to hang them on the house hooks I had birds on the feeders and eating while I was carrying them and after I hung them they continued to feed. That happened with all the feeders I filled and took back out and once I got inside I started making more sugar water and that evening I needed to fill them all again. At that time I had about 30-35 birds or more and they sure would put on a show just before night fall when they would come to feed up before going to roost. I miss my birds and hope I get a swarm of them here even though I know it might take a season or two. I'm going to have my daughter plant some vine type horn flowers along the base of my deck so they will grow up the deck and along the laddus to attract more birds next year. 

[Tuffus]

I have had 1-5 birds hitting my feeders most of this year. I think some of the birds from up north are headed south already, I'm getting 15 + birds having a feeding frenzy for about 2 weeks. I'm putting out fresh nectar every other day in 3 feeders because they are hitting them hard. Fun to watch.