Hummingbird Thread

[k2skier112]

I kept scaring them away opening the door. Almost got one in the tree but couldn't manual focus fast enough. The rest are through the screen and blinds

The one on the right wouldn't let the one on the left feed. he held his beak high, when the dominate one left he fed, then got chased away, and a 10 minute fight in flight ensued. The dominate one sat in the tree guarding his food supply for at least 15 minutes. I thought they might both die from the feeding challenges, I bought 2 more feeders.

[AK47bp]

I put in 2 honeysuckle vines on my back fence last year, I now have so many hummingbirds, they love it.


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[Meadow Skipper]

So, this one time I was walking around the house and I noticed a hummer perched on a flower stem near the ground, which I thought was kind of weird. But it was weirder that it didn’t split as I approached. It got really strange when I got up to it and it stayed put. It turned out the thing was dead, but clutching the stem so tightly I could break the stem off and take this picture. Never seen anything like that.

[tetzen]

What feeding mixture do ya'll like to use for the hummers?

[Norseman]

4:1

water:sugar

ish

[k2skier112]

Don't buy the red shit, most has red dye #40

[plugboots]

My buddy in Santa Clara has a hummingbird that made a nest on top of a mobile hanging on his deck.

[Meadow Skipper]

4:1

water:sugar

ish

This.

[tetzen]

They seem to find the feeder without the red coloring I guess. Kinda surprising that they can locate it initially.

[The AD]

Been busy keeping the hummingbird feeders snow and ice free this weekend.

[crashtestdummy]

Too cold for winter hummingbirds, but we get them when it warms up.









And sometimes they make it inside of the house.

[refried]

I went out this morning to refill a couple feeders when I saw a hummingbird sitting on one of the feeders not moving. I picked it up and I assumed it was dead and put it next to a plant intending to do something with it after filling the feeders. When I went to get it I saw it was moving a little bit, I picked it up and held it in my hand for about 5 minutes warming it up. it slowly opened it's eyes, moving it's wings, and tail, and I could feel it's heart speeding up. After another minute or two it spread it's wings and tail out and took off into the trees. I found another a few years ago sitting the same way and noticed it wasn't where I had put it but figured something ate it, I learned this morning that they go into a suspended animation (torpor) to survive cold weather by slowing they're heart down to about 40 bpm.

[Garth Bimble]

We get Broad Tails and Rufus here in SW CO but only in the warmer months. Putting the feeders out today, FWIW. Pretty steady until late September but in July when the fledges come out it's absolute bedlam on 4 of my 5 feeders. It's not unusual to have 12 birds on one at any given time and I have to fill each feeder at least once a day.

We've had a few fly in through the french doors on our deck and we've got super high ceilings with big windows at either end. They try to fly through the window to get out...eventually they wear themselves out so you go get the ladder, climb up and bring the tired little bugger down. They're so exhausted they'll sit in the palm of your hand until they're strong enough to fly away.

Put a screen up a few years ago so no more accidental entries.

[SkiBall]

4:1

water:sugar

ish

This is my recipe.

Don't buy the red shit, most has red dye #40

And just straight white sugar. My brain wants to try different sugars, but heard others can sometimes cause issues.

[evdog]

I still haven't seen a hummingbird at my place in months. I've put the feeder out again the last couple weeks and the level hasn't dropped at all. Strange. I still see them when out on the trail but maybe the ones that are usually around my place migrate in winter. I looked up when I bought the feeder last year and it was early May. So maybe they'll be back soon.

[thedude2340]

I went out this morning to refill a couple feeders when I saw a hummingbird sitting on one of the feeders not moving. I picked it up and I assumed it was dead and put it next to a plant intending to do something with it after filling the feeders. When I went to get it I saw it was moving a little bit, I picked it up and held it in my hand for about 5 minutes warming it up. it slowly opened it's eyes, moving it's wings, and tail, and I could feel it's heart speeding up. After another minute or two it spread it's wings and tail out and took off into the trees. I found another a few years ago sitting the same way and noticed it wasn't where I had put it but figured something ate it, I learned this morning that they go into a suspended animation (torpor) to survive cold weather by slowing they're heart down to about 40 bpm.

That’s cool

[The AD]

We've got a lot of them in our yard this year. They've been drinking one feeder completely dry in a couple days, which we've never had before. I've also seen a rufous flying around, which is new. Previously I've only seen Anna's.

[Meadow Skipper]

From an email from my LBFS.

Hummingbirds – Too Amazing to be True!

One of the most beautiful and fascinating birds in the world. They truly are the smallest of birds, and yet there are 330 species. Remarkably, they are found nowhere else on the planet except in the Americas.

Seventeen species of hummingbirds visit New Mexico each year on their migration trails. Identification of the many species is most easily done by the males’ distinctive, iridescent throat patches, with colors ranging from red, purple, green, blue and orange.

The hummingbird is nature’s helicopter. They can fly forward, backward, left, right, hover motionless and even fly upside down. Hummingbirds have extremely short, weak legs and are not able to walk or hop but make up for that with their amazing flight ability.

They have the fastest heart rate (1,260 beats per minute), the fastest wing beat (up to 80 times per second), the fastest metabolism and the largest heart, in proportion to body size, of any bird. A large heart, but a small brain, the smallest of any bird… about the size of a BB. It may be small, but
exceptional in that hummingbirds can navigate 2,000 miles to migrate back to the exact same feeder year after year.

Hummingbirds (Black-chinned and Broad-tailed) typically return to Santa Fe in late March and early April from their spring migration (23 miles per day) from Mexico. They are “loners” and migrate alone, perfectly timed with the blooming of hummingbird pollinated food plants. They gain up to 40% in body weight to meet the physical demands of migration.

In addition to Black-chinned and Broadtails, other species seen in Santa Fe include Calliope and Rufous, along with rare sightings of Broad-billed, Rivoli’s, Anna’s and Violet-crowned.

Hummingbirds have quite the appetite, ingesting up to eight times their body weight in solid and liquid food every day. As for liquid food…their forked, open grooved tongues lap up nectar from flowers and feeders at an amazing 12 times a second.
Get your feeders out!

Hummingbird nectar recipe:

4 parts water and 1 part table sugar.
Bring to boil, cool and serve.
Never add coloring!
Change nectar twice a week.
As for solid food…they use the flexible tip of their bill to capture insects and insect eggs. They love spiders!

Male hummingbirds tend to be highly territorial and often migrate north in the spring a week or more in advance of females to establish their territories for the season. Males also leave incubation of eggs (1 to 3) and rearing of young to females and begin moving south on the fall migration at least two weeks
before the females and young. The flight south must take place well in advance of the cold weather, not because they cannot tolerate cold (a slow as -4 0 Fahrenheit), but because of rapidly diminishing food supplies at that time of the year.

Due to the long migration, the female and baby hummingbirds left behind will need to fill up on energy to help them make their arduous journey. Do not take down your hummer feeders until you have not seen a Hummingbird visit it for 2 weeks. The stragglers are usually the weakest and need every bit of help we can offer.

[Buster Highmen]

They seem to find the feeder without the red coloring I guess. Kinda surprising that they can locate it initially.

We color with dried hibiscus flower tea .

[oftpiste]

I have the Anna's year round. Upgraded to 2 large feeders about 20 feet apart. There's a good deal on amazon for a 2-pack of bigger feeders.

Rufous eh? Interesting!

We've got a lot of them in our yard this year. They've been drinking one feeder completely dry in a couple days, which we've never had before. I've also seen a rufous flying around, which is new. Previously I've only seen Anna's.

[gravitylover]

I'm too lazy to search... We ordered a couple of those feeders on Amazon and I have no idea what to put in them. Suggestions?

[Meadow Skipper]

I'm too lazy to search... We ordered a couple of those feeders on Amazon and I have no idea what to put in them. Suggestions?

Just three posts before yours,

Hummingbird nectar recipe:

4 parts water and 1 part table sugar.
Bring to boil, cool and serve.
Never add coloring!
Change nectar twice a week.
As for solid food…they use the flexible tip of their bill to capture insects and insect eggs. They love spiders!

[gravitylover]

😁

[teletripper]

Put one feeder out this morning and it took less then a minute for one to find it. Soon we'll be up to 3 feeders that we have fill up twice a day.

[plugboots]