Hummingbird Thread

[Hood26]

Hey all? Any other hummingbird fans out there?

I have increased my number of feeders from 2 to 6 since COVID.

Working from home, I have really enjoyed their antics. I have about 4 dominate males in the yard most of the time and a handful of females that skirt around. One feeder is off to the side to let the females get a drink without harassment.

Today has been crazy with about a dozen birds in and out. I think the neighbor’s feeders are empty so their birds are honing in on the territory.

They are all Anna’s and they are found all over Oregon even in the winter.

They like to bug me while smoking and a few even come to the window by my desk when their feeders need attention. Some of the feeders I have need burped all the time, so I have been replacing them and trying new ones.

I have been trying to get some good pics, usual able to get much better videos, before starting this thread, but got impatient.

There is one of the younger males in a crape myrtle tree. The two at the feeder I think are the pair that had a nest in the yard this spring and tolerate me more close than the others. There is a picture of that male at the feeder after the female bailed.

Anyone else enjoy these ornery, lovable creatures?

[ötzi]

They're definitely cool. I've never seen one in the winter though.

[PB]

We've got over-winterers too - most likely Annas. Feed on all the bugs and Aloe still blooming. Love it when they come up to me when I'm hand watering with a shower-head nozzle and want a shower.

[Hood26]

PB, that is cool. We need to figure out a watering option for them. I think they use our neighbor’s water fountain.

I bet they would like a mister in the summer.

[Shredhead]

Yeah, I like the little fuckers.

[Hood26]

Shred, I can only dream to have 4 at one feeder at a time. Nice!

They are little fuckers. They are every bit a pain in the ass as the dog and cat.

[evdog]

I've had a few hanging around my complex. Last year I found one had build a nest on a light cord on my balcony so I finally got a feeder. They'd been emptying it consistently every 4-5 days and half the time I'd look out the window I'd see one hanging out on the cord if not feeding. Haven't seen any for a few weeks now, and the feeder level hasn't changed. Not sure what's going on. They are usually around all winter too. Maybe a local kitty got one, but there are a lot more than one buzzing around here normally.

[Flounder]

We have a couple around the flower gardens during the summer in Vermont. My grandparents had a couple of feeders. They were in Napa so they had them year round. As a kid it was always cool to watch gramps stand out at the feeder and have the birds land on him. Kinda like this guy.

[PB]

I've had a few hanging around my complex. Last year I found one had build a nest on a light cord on my balcony so I finally got a feeder. They'd been emptying it consistently every 4-5 days and half the time I'd look out the window I'd see one hanging out on the cord if not feeding. Haven't seen any for a few weeks now, and the feeder level hasn't changed. Not sure what's going on. They are usually around all winter too. Maybe a local kitty got one, but there are a lot more than one buzzing around here normally.

Superb photography, my man!
Hoping why're all down at the local rave, returning shortly.

[detrusor]

We have a bunch in Park City, they bail in late September usually. Keep 5 feeders out there. Last year one got inside and we couldn’t catch it so the wife came out into the living room with a bowl of syrup solution at dawn the next day and it just flew down and landed on her hand and started slipping away. Pretty cool.


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[sirbumpsalot]

I have 3 feeders and each has a dominant male. Impossible to have more than one at a time or the fights start.

I tried the trick of putting all three together as the recommend to get multiple visiters, and even separating by 20 feet but no can do....one male will spend all his time fighting at all 3. Especially entertaining when it snows and you have 6-7 visiting. The only time you get two at once feeding is when they have a 10 second truce to catch their wind.

I now have the feeders spaced one on each of 3 sides of the house so that none are in sight of each other. That way multiples can't be defended at once and each bird gets his own.

[Norseman]

Anna's all winter here. Males have the showy throats but females have a brighter green.

[Percy Rideout]

None here in the winters, but they are crazy here in the Colorado mountains for the summer.

I just keep filling the feeders for these crackheads. Cool to watch the air show midsummer.

[The AD]

Anna's stay all year in my yard, too. I've got one feeder in my front yard and three in the back. One is right outside the window in my WFH office. I love watching them flit around.

Luckily it hasn't been a cold winter so far. When we get freezing temps we bring some of their feeders in at night so they aren't frozen solid in the morning. Apparently on cold nights the hummers go into sort of a torpor. Sometimes on a cold morning you'll see them hunkered down on their perch. Amazing and endlessly fascinating little birds.

The fast metabolism of Anna’s Hummingbirds bird requires large quantities of fuel. Deprive a hummingbird of food for even a couple of hours at the wrong time and it will will starve. To get through a mild night, a hummingbird merely sits still to conserve energy. But if this doesn’t cut heat loss sufficiently, the torpor mechanism takes over and drops the bird’s temperature from 105 degrees Fahrenheit to within several degrees of the surrounding air. Its heart rate slows to 40 beats per minute, a drastic cutback from 500 per minute on idle and 1200 during flight. In the morning the system revs up again, but doesn’t achieve full recovery until the bird can take flight.

https://backyardbirdshop.com/annas-hummingbirds-torpor/

[Hood26]

I have 3 feeders and each has a dominant male. Impossible to have more than one at a time or the fights start.

I tried the trick of putting all three together as the recommend to get multiple visiters, and even separating by 20 feet but no can do....one male will spend all his time fighting at all 3. Especially entertaining when it snows and you have 6-7 visiting. The only time you get two at once feeding is when they have a 10 second truce to catch their wind.

I now have the feeders spaced one on each of 3 sides of the house so that none are in sight of each other. That way multiples can't be defended at once and each bird gets his own.

Same here. Tried the clumping; a no go. I now have them where they can’t defend multiple from a common perch. I wonder if the wintering Anna’s are much more territorial than those who migrate?

Great photos folks! I should get out my actual camera and see if I can get something better than the phone. They tend to be the most tolerant of photo ops on the cold grey days and low light mornings and evenings. I assume it’s because they are more hungry.

[stradissimo]

I lived in Tucson for over a year. One of the few things I likes about it was the birds.

[sirbumpsalot]

A woodpecker! now THATS funny!

[Benny Profane]

I have never heard of hummingbirds in the winter. I have read more than once that they slow their metabolism to a slow crawl at night to rest for the amazing amount of energy they use during the day searching for food. The species in the northeast are in serious trouble below 45 degrees in that state, so we lose them in early October, supposedly to migrate all the way to Mexico.

Love to watch those fuckers fly. Tiny F16s.

[The AD]

I have never heard of hummingbirds in the winter.

Anna's have the northernmost year-round range of any hummer species. I think they overwinter everywhere where freezing temperatures are relatively rare. Although I remember within the last couple winters we had a fairly long cold streak where it got below freezing overnight for at least a week and the hummers managed to get through it.

[refried]

We have them year round here. there's 4 feeders to keep fighting to a minimum.

[Norseman]

Anna's have the northernmost year-round range of any hummer species. I think they overwinter everywhere where freezing temperatures are relatively rare. Although I remember within the last couple winters we had a fairly long cold streak where it got below freezing overnight for at least a week and the hummers managed to get through it.

interestingly, the range of Annas has increased vastly with the settlement of the west coast, as folks cultivated exotic plants with winter blooms. their original winter range didn't extend outside of southern california.

[BCMtnHound]

A sure sign spring has arrived when the hummingbirds are back at their feeders here around early to mid May. Love hearing the males doing their mating loop-de-loops.
Other than whiskey jacks, hummingbirds are the only wild birds I've fed from my palm. Showing this to my daughter brought big points.

[zartagen]

We have them year round here. there's 4 feeders to keep fighting to a minimum.

That night shot is cool!

The second pic is also great.

[Yonder_River]

We have a feeder with some Anna's but I had no idea about all of the group dynamics. Sure is cool to see them all winter long but if it wasn't for all of us with the feeders I don't know how they would make it.

[evdog]

Yeah not easy to get a decent shot with a cell phone. But sometimes you get lucky. Didn't even see this one til I looked at the pics later. Palm Canyon: