Hummingbirds, no not the fish locator type

[gm280]

We have some hummingbirds around our place. I am not talking about one or two, but 50 to 100 birds or even more. We have been feeding hummingbirds for about a decade now and every year we get covered up with them, especially closer to fall when they seem to feed up for their migration journey across the gulf of Mexico.

We have three feeders setup presently and they get refilled daily. So these birds are eating/dinking about a gallon of food a daily. And they are so territorial and fight all the time. We have only Ruby Throated Hummingbirds, no other species. Some times it looks like one of Alford Hitchcock's movies called the "Birds" there are so many. It seriously looks like someone wacked a hornet's nest when there are flying everywhere. Does anybody else feed them?

Seem each year we have to rescue one or more from stupid things. One year one got caught up in some cobwebs and couldn't fly and fell to the ground. So I had to pick the bird up and very easily remove the webs. Then I let it feed for a few seconds at one of the feeders and off it went. Another time one hit the ground and the ground still had some morning dew on it and the bird couldn't get off because it was wet. So again I had to pick it up and dry it off and let it feed and off that one went.

We have a screened in back porch and they get their beaks caught in the screen when flying, and not looking I guess. And each time I tried to push the beaks back out, they fought so hard to get loose they pulled their beaks out before I could set them free. Here is a picture I took a few minutes ago at one feeder. I filled that feeder around mid morning. They will empty it before dark, along with the other two as well. It goes on like this non-stop from sun rise to sun set.

 

[poconojoe]

Wow that's a lot of hummingbirds! We get them too here in northeastern PA, but not an infestation like that! We have trumpet vines and other flowers that they love. One time my wife was wearing a shirt with a floral pattern on it and one of them was hovering at her chest ready to feed! I've also seen them fight. Yes they are territorial. We also have a few regular bird feeders. The problem with the bird seed is that it attracts other varmint too. Squirrels, chipmunks, raccoon, skunk and even black bear. We have a camera on our porch and two black bears were caught on video climbing on a bench seat attacking the bird seed. Very cool video.

 

[gm280]

Wow that's a lot of hummingbirds! We get them too here in northeastern PA, but not an infestation like that! We have trumpet vines and other flowers that they love. One time my wife was wearing a shirt with a floral pattern on it and one of them was hovering at her chest ready to feed! I've also seen them fight. Yes they are territorial. We also have a few regular bird feeders. The problem with the bird seed is that it attracts other varmint too. Squirrels, chipmunks, raccoon, skunk and even black bear. We have a camera on our porch and two black bears were caught on video climbing on a bench seat attacking the bird seed. Very cool video.

Yea when I go out to pick up the feeders to refill, they swarm me and come very close to my face. I've had then less then an inch away hovering and looking at me. And the ones I rescued weight nothing. I mean when you pick one up, it is like you are holding nothing. If I knew how to post videos I could post some amazing videos of them swarming. If some times looks really scary to see that many swarming. But they are totally harmless. JMHO!

 

[poconojoe]

That's crazy! I'd like to see a video of that!

 

[BWR1953]

gm280

We have them here too but nowhere near that number. We've only seen 3 at a time. My wife started planting perennials a couple years ago to attract them and it's starting to work. We now have a few "permanent" residents which remain here from spring to fall. Normally we'd see them moving through during migrations north and south. Nice to have them around full time.

In fact, when I first opened this thread this afternoon, there was a female (Ruby Throated) hovering just outside our window. We do have a feeder there as well but the birds seem to like the real plants a lot better.

I have some video around here somewhere. Will need to dig it out and post it up.

Some example pix from our yard:

 

[Keith Ogden]

No Title

 

[BWR1953]

Fuchsia - my favorite plant!

 

[BWR1953]

Found the video and uploaded it to Youtube.

 

[Keith Ogden]

Fuchsia - my favorite plant!

Ya liked them a lot. Did not get any this year. Saved some seeds from last years but did not try to grow any this season. Had Red , Pink, Purple and white last year.

 

[sphelps]

bwr , Sounds like an owl or maybe ring necked dove hooting in the background ..

 

[sphelps]

Gm , my wife put out a humming bird feeder a month ago and has not seen one yet . I do see them from time to time but not very often ..
Strange I was getting a lot of birds visiting my feeders a few weeks ago ...Now it's like they have all gone .... Cardinals , Bluejays , Woodpeckers , Finches all kinds of birds .... Maybe it's just too hot and they are chilling somewhere ...IDK ... Migration maybe ?

 

[BWR1953]

Ya liked them a lot. Did not get any this year. Saved some seeds from last years but did not try to grow any this season. Had Red , Pink, Purple and white last year.

Nice. The magenta and purple are my favorite. I tried growing a shrub version here a few years ago but it couldn't take the heat.

bwr , Sounds like an owl or maybe ring necked dove hooting in the background ..

Most likely the ring necked dove, an invasive species here.

Gm , my wife put out a humming bird feeder a month ago and has not seen one yet . I do see them from time to time but not very often ..
Strange I was getting a lot of birds visiting my feeders a few weeks ago ...Now it's like they have all gone .... Cardinals , Bluejays , Woodpeckers , Finches all kinds of birds .... Maybe it's just too hot and they are chilling somewhere ...IDK ... Migration maybe ?

Do you have plenty of fresh, clean water available for them?

 

[fhhuber]

Better for them if you grow plants for them to get nectar.

Note that now you have established your place as a feeding ground, stopping the feedings will result in a lot of dead hummingbirds.

 

[poconojoe]

Fushia is their favorite too! We always have them hanging on the porch. They poke their little beaks in there for the sweet nectar!

 

[gm280]

Better for them if you grow plants for them to get nectar.

Note that now you have established your place as a feeding ground, stopping the feedings will result in a lot of dead hummingbirds.

fhhuber, no we don't stop feeding them. We've been feeding them for at least a decade or more now and we get so many that we know they depend on those feeders. So we just fill them at least once a day, some days more. The feeders won't come down until we don't see any birds for a week or two. And that is late fall going into winter. We've had neighbors ask us how we had so many hummingbirds in our yard. All I can say is we just started feeding them and they spread the word...I guess. :noidea:

 

[MTboatguy]

We get them every year from the beginning of June, until about the end of Sept, I have 3 feeders out and I have to fill them daily, they drain them every single day, I don't use the died food that you buy at the store, I use a cup of sugar to a quart of water, microwave for 4 minutes, stir and let stand for a couple of hours and they love it. I have one 8 hole feeder that holds almost a quart by itself and at times, there is a bird on every hole and another dozen flying patterns around it that looks like the dogfight scene from Top Gun!

They are always fighting and squaking at each other, when I go to fill the feeders, I often times get 2 or 3 of them sitting on the bill of my hat and if I leave the doors open and forget the screen door, they will fly into the house to let us know the feeders are empty! We have several different species around here, lots of Anna's Ruby Throats, Several rust colored with Gold Throats. Last year I was working on one of the cars and had the hood up and a couple of them kept flying under the hood watching what I was doing. it doesn't seem to matter where I go on the property I am always getting buzzed by them.

They are a lot of fun to watch and it seems like we have some that have come back over and over for years. I normally go through about 10 pounds of sugar every year feeding them.

 

[gm280]

Let's see if I can upload a video or two about these hummingbirds;

I guess not. I don't know how to attach videos. Any help?

 

[82rude]

Canadian hummingbird!

 

[gm280]

Canadian hummingbird!

82rude, We don't get those type hummingbirds around where we live. What type is it? I guess the brown throated type ound:

That is awesome...I don't think we could afford to feed those types. :faint2:

 

[MTboatguy]

Canadian hummingbird!

We have had a few of those type of HB's over the years, they about killed all my seed feeders and them tried to crawl up the wall on the house to get to the HB feeder!