Who has hummingbirds?

CMF · Mon Sep 12, 2011 1:53 pm

Toy and all east coast hummingbird feeders. Please keep one feeder up through December in hopes you might get a vagrant Selasphorus (Rufous / Allen's) visit your feeder. The accidentals show up yearly along the coastal states and ofter remain through the winter. Same rules apply of keeping feeders filled with FRESH sugar water although you don't have to change it as often as when it sits in the blazing sun of summer. Last year I got a tip from the rare bird alert and managed to photograph a Selasphorus in a nearby town. The two species can only be identified through key measurements upon capturing.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/allseasons ... 4474315599
I have one feeder that is heated by a small light bulb to keep from freezing. Also; If you manage to attract one, they feed in a daisy chain predictable pattern. Once they find their sources of nourishment, they will remain until disrupted.
CMF

Guest · Mon Sep 12, 2011 2:13 pm

I had between 20-30 (guesstimation) all summer. About a week ago it dropped down to about 4 birds and a few days ago it jumped back up to around 12 or so. I'll miss them when they're gone.

Lot of interesting ideas in this thread and some wonderful pictures.

I use a gallon jug to mix my food in. (4:1) I have it marked for the water level. I mix my sugar in 1 cup of water and put it in the microwave and heat (boil) then stir and it's all dissolved. Then I pour it in the container of clean water and shake it up to mix. I keep 6 feeders going from April until November.

jr 2 · Tue Sep 13, 2011 10:42 am

i just mix sugar with hot water out of the faucet in the feeder, just enough too disolve the sugar and then add cold water,,seen hummers here yesterday but so far haven't seen one today;;jr 2

ToyinPA · Tue Sep 13, 2011 11:29 am

I had one sitting on the feeder this morning. We had heavy fog last night. She was all puffed up trying to stay warm. She drank several times & then flew off.

I expect to see more into October, as they migrate north of me south.

Toy in PA

Guest · Tue Sep 13, 2011 3:45 pm

This morning I had between 30-40 again. I think they are moving south and stopped in to feed. The temp is 105* again!!! Never seen the temps like we've had them this year.

Tim Stover · Tue Sep 13, 2011 5:29 pm

anyone ever add a little pure honey in the mixture bees get it from the same place that the hummers eat daddy used it for years they drinking half gallon a day here here is a few of them http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_9QtTxE ... lpage#t=8s

Linda Reynolds · Tue Sep 13, 2011 5:39 pm

Tim, here are a few links explaining why you should never use honey when feeding hummingbirds.

http://www.birdwatchers.com/debtips.html

http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/humm ... 28716.html

http://www.hummingbirds.net/feeders.html

Supermarket sugar mixed with water at a ratio of 1 C of sugar to 4 C of water is all that they need. Anything more can be harmful.

Wetterdale · Tue Sep 13, 2011 7:57 pm

Have to fill the feeder again tonight. They are still here in Canada! Thought I saw one wearing a toque today!

ccarlin · Tue Sep 13, 2011 9:44 pm

over the weekend we had around 35 and this evening we had over fifty..we have three feeders up and they were all covered plus the trees were full.i will put up more feeders up in the morning and buy more sugar. i have to fill the feeders up twice a day.this will last for awhile.it is so much fun watching them.it's funny now that there are more than we usually have they don't fight as much. i will miss them when they are gone.

Louise Chambers · Wed Sep 14, 2011 8:31 am

I've been wondering about the effect of the fires here in Texas - on Texbirds, people all over are reporting they have swarms of orioles as well as hummers. Our troop of 6 orioles have been here about a week now. If they all normally migrate along the coast, the fires would not impact them. But if they travel inland, they might be pushed to find new spots to rest and feed.

Kathy in VA · Wed Sep 14, 2011 11:57 am

I have had loads of hummers here in VA this summer!

It seems like the more feeders I put up, the more hummingbirds I get! I place feeders on opposite sides of the house, and put them in clusters--like, several suction-cup feeders on one window, plus several feeders hanging from several multi-hook shepherd’s hooks. The aggressive hummers seem to get overwhelmed and know they can’t dominate all those ports so close together, so they spend more time drinking (and letting other hummers drink)--and less time chasing each other away. Sometimes I've had up as many as 13 hummer feeders, just to draw in as many birds as possible and watch their feeding habits.

Here are some neat videos of hummers I've seen on the web (these are not at my house):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CYgbIKX ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnilCBVyeLg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWmhfrxZ ... re=related
http://www.hummingbirds.net/images/figure8.mov

Like Tim, and many other busy nature-lovers, I don’t boil the sugar solution or have to wait for it to cool…I just mix up the sugar solution I need at the moment, using cold tap water, stirring until I can no longer hear the spoon scraping sugar crystals on the bottom of the pitcher. The hummers here have been doing fine on that solution for many years. I just change it every couple days, when it gets cloudy. I have read that we should never use hot water out of the faucet for drinking, cooking, mixing baby formula, or feeding to pets, because water heaters, pipes, faucets, and soldering may have lead, corroded metal parts, bacteria, and other contaminants in them—and hot water dissolves and absorbs those contaminants more readily than cold water. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/29/health/29real.html

jr 2, if I read your post correctly, I understood that you only feed thistle seed in your seed feeders; I’d encourage you to try offering some Black Oil Sunflower seed, in addition to thistle (of course, using feeders with larger ports)…you will get to enjoy watching a larger variety of species of birds visiting your backyard. Though thistle is a favorite of goldfinches, Black Oil Sunflower seed is favored by the greatest number of seed-eating bird species and offers a high amount of oil and nutrition for its volume and its cost, and the hull is thinner and easier for smaller birds to crack than striped sunflower seed.

Bulldog1: Awesome photos! Great photography!

Seller: Thanks for the link to the terrific hummingbird nest and feeding photos/video! That was fascinating to watch!

I love my martins, but I also love hummingbirds, and bluebirds, and the list goes on and on......too!

Bill Hyde · Sat Sep 17, 2011 2:07 pm

We are in the Illinois-Wisconsin stateline area and we continue to see a few hummers at our feeder. One, having a washed-out tone to its coloration, looks different from the others. We think it may be an HY bird without the usual adult plumage colors. Perhaps someone can help with this thought?

With a hard frost the other night, it probably will not be long until our hummingbirds leave us for a warmer climate. Typically they leave by the end of the first week in October.

Linda Reynolds · Sat Sep 17, 2011 5:53 pm

Bill, we have lots and lots of youngsters visiting our site. None of them appear to be muted in appearance. They all appear to have their normal plumage. The little red dot on the throat is sometimes very obvious on the young males, and the females are equally as obvious. However, all seem to have their normal coloring.

You might want to investigate further and check to see if you are perhaps spotting a Rufous Hummingbird. They are now being reported with increases frequency in areas in which they were not previously seen.

CMF, recently posted wonderful photos of a Rufous visiting his site. Check it out and see if his photos are similar to the hummingbird that you spotted. Here is a link to the page that contains his informative thread (CMF's post is at the top of the page):

http://www.purplemartin.org/forum/viewt ... 8&start=40

It is also possible that you have spotted a leucistic hummingbird. That is similar to albino, but the overall appearance of the bird is not completely white, but appears to be *overall* dulled in color.

Check out leucistic/albino hummingbirds on Google...............Here is an example of what you might find:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3tp1qmaBBM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T4t2GcDjQM

http://www.google.com/search?q=leucisti ... d=0CFgQsAQ

Bill Hyde · Sat Sep 17, 2011 6:33 pm

Thank you, Linda, for your excellent response. Yes, the hummer to which I referred may very well be leucistic; however, it is not a uniform whitish color. If it continues to visit, I will pay closer attention to its plumage. It is the same size as many Ruby Throated HBs and it often perches on a branch of the crabapple tree near the nectar feeder. I thought it may be a recent fledgling because of its being quite timid in approaching the feeder.

Linda Reynolds · Sat Sep 17, 2011 7:30 pm

Bill, I am happy that I could help. He or she might be timid because (because of its coloration) is being excluded (picked on, or shunned) by the general population.

Albino and leucistic birds are often the targets of their own species.

Veronica G · Sat Sep 17, 2011 8:34 pm

Louise,
I too have been wondering about the effects of the fires on migrating birds and have seen the reports on Texbirds. We have more orioles this year than any other year. It's been nice but I feel bad for them. They must have had a miserable migration through Texas.

I think I have a rufous hummingbird visiting my feeders

I will try to get a picture.

Veronica

Louise Chambers · Sat Sep 17, 2011 9:22 pm

Veronica, I thought some more about that, and the drought covering most of Texas has to be more of a factor than the fires. Rockport's hummingbird festival is this weekend - folks I talked to there Friday all said they had loads of orioles AND hummers.

I think we put out more than 16 oranges today at our weekend place, and they were gone in short order. Incredible watching the swarms of hummers and orioles out in the country - and just as many here in town. On our third bag of oranges, have about 8 nectar feeders up at each place. At least we can help them all for now. I hope you can get a photo of the rufous! We have a buff belly, but no rufous.

Kathy in VA · Sun Sep 18, 2011 4:29 pm

16 oranges!...on your third bag! I sure am jealous! "Nobody" has found my oranges yet! (orioles, mockers, woodpeckers, nor anything else.) I put oranges and apples far away and up close to the other bird feeders. I'll keep trying.
But I'm still having a small number of hummers to enjoy! (even if I can't nab those gorgeous orioles.) And I'm excited that I might actually get to see hummingbirds drink from the Pineapple Sage plant I planted for them...it is a fall-bloomer and it is just beginning to get a couple of bloom stalks with brilliant red tubular flowers...last year (the first year I'd planted one), it didn't get around to blooming until AFTER all the hummers left! It's supposed to be an annual in Zone 7 of VA, but it sent up a little sprig this spring, so I left it, and it grew into a beautiful "bush!" I hope they like it!

Veronica G · Sun Sep 18, 2011 5:21 pm

Here are some photos of the rufous hummingbird at my feeder. She's been around for a few days already.

Veronica

Gobbler T · Mon Sep 19, 2011 7:02 am

We have more now than we've ever had! In 10 years we've never seen more than 3. Every day now there are at least 9. They won't stay still long enough to count!

My youngest daughter went out and held the feeder in her lap to get a close up look.