I just love these little birds. They are so tiny but fly and move around so FAST! They have been crazy at our house this season. At one point for about a week and a half, I was replacing their sugar water each day!!! I told my hubby that they were going to break us up in sugar!!LOL

I think KY must be a stop off while they are in transition...like a bed and breakfast area!LOL I say this because we'll have several...then a few...then maybe 2-3...then all the sudden, back to a bunch!! They are so fun to watch.

The other day, I wondered if they would still feed if I was holding the feeder. I had 2 come up and feed! I was so excited to be THAT close to them!! The feeder was full and it eventually got too heavy to continue holding...but it was fun for a little bit.

We feed finches as well. I guess we consider both the finches and the hummers "our outdoor pets".LOL

Anyone else enjoy feeding these or other kinds of little birds?

I will say that our kitties sure enjoy watching them! Callie has almost jumped up and "greeted" 1 or 2 very recently. Fortunately, we caught her in time to stop her. She knows that the birds are off limits now...so I hope it stays that way.

Paula

Paula
yes we feed them and all the other birds around
I keep them fed well also....I have 3 feeders on the
front porch and I watch them out the window,Love
love them. there so fat I can never get a picture..

How Cool is that that they let you hand feed them..
that is so Awesome..
BTW So good to have you back with us Hugs PJ

yes. I wondered the other day, the feeder is in sun and when it is 115 degrees, don't think they would drink. I see them im the morning. I was working in yard in the morning, sweaty, one came toward me and scared me. Probably thought I was a flower. They move so fast. I have a large camilia tree in back of my yard (not in my yard) and I see them there all the time. Why settle for sugar water when you can get the real thing?

Every so often we have them here in Phoenix, but my folks live in the White Mountains where they are abundant. There are times in the summer when you can barely sit on the back deck because the little hummingbirds divebomb you like crazy. They have 4 different breeds/species of hummingbirds up there. I love to hear them whiz by. they have to make sure they take the feeders down by Labor Day or else the birds don't start their migration.

PJP, I meant to tell you the other day that it was nice to see you as well.

It can be tricky to get pics of the hummers...but our seem so comfortable (for some reason) that we've managed to get some decent video. I'll have to see if I can get some pics sometime today.

Doxie, our hummers also search around in our flowers and in the garden. I'm not certain when they have babies here...think it's already past time...but there are a couple female hummers that appear to be pregnant..either that or they're just chubby from all the eating!lol

Dutch (LOL), we've had them dive bomb us as well! I've felt/heard them within inches of my head before!!

They're pretty cool little birds~ We both enjoy watching them.

Paula

Do you make your own nectar?

Could you please share the recipe?

My dad makes his own, I'll have to call, but you'll probably get the recipe before I post. I do know one thing the Forest Service told Dad and that was to NOT put the red food color in. The birds will be attracted by the feeder itself, since they are usually a bright color. The year that Dad put feeders out in front and back, he went thru about 40 lbs of sugar. I think the bears got a lot of it from the front feeders though, LOL.

I went to a Hummingbird Festival on Sunday here in central IL. The IL Audubon Society was there banding them (if you can imagine that!) You could also feel their little heart beat which is 1200 beats per minute. There is a lady in this area that has pretty much devoted her life to these little birds. She has about 50 feeders and has been doing this for about 25 years. She gives wonderful talks and is so informative!

Her recipe for general feeding is 1 part sugar to 4 parts boiling water. During May and Sept. she increases it to 1 part sugar to 3 parts water. This is to give them a little extra energy for migration. NO food coloring as it can damage their kidneys.

we have scores of hummingbirds here in Az. Unfortunately the only feeder I have is out on my front porch and I need to run out to the front to see the little guys when they are around.

I have a funny story about them. ( used to have a spa on my backporch. It was bright red. I used to drain it every 6 months. I was draining it one day and I was in the back room qwhen I heard what sounded like a helicopter landing in my yard. I had a wall of sliding glass doors that led to the back and as I got closer to the dining room I heard the windows there rattling loudly. everything including the things on the walls were rattling really bad. When I looked out the doors I see a cloud of hummingbirds dive b o m b i n g the hot tub. It was like they found the m o t h e rlode. Because the hot tub was red they apparently thought it was a huge feeder and were going wild diving in to get some water, I have never seen so many little hummingbirds ever.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: SheltieCollector,

My feeder holds 2 cups of water so I add 1/2 cup of sugar and stir until the sugar dissolves. You need to boil the water first then allow it to cool. Do not use regular tap water...it is not good for them.

If I go with 1 cup of water, I add 1/4 cup of sugar following the same method above.

And the others are correct, you do not add red coloring to the water.

Sheltie, I can't imagine what that visual must have looked and sounded like!lol

Tinaavon, I would LOVE to experience something like that and have so many hummers all over the place. We've gotten really close to them before other than standing close to the feeder. One got into our garage a couple times...I guess it was the red emergency thingie that opens the garage door....and it was so terrified! I chased that little thing all over the garage with a fishing net until I finally got it. I was so afraid that I'd hurt the little thing...but all was fine once I released it back outdoors. I had both garage doors opened...the little stinker just wouldn't go out them!!

Paula

Well, I took a moment to see if I could get any pics. For some reason, they were being a little nervous.

~Coming in for a landing~

Cehck out the water level on the pic above. I just filled it last night!

This one kept peeking at me...wasn't for sure if it wanted to land or not.LOL

Close up~ Look at those lil tiny feet!

This one is even closer...but I think I was shaking the camera a little bit.

I use to stand by the feeder with my finger out by the place they eat from and they would land on my finger...I was scared the first time....they weigh nothing...and so sweet....

1 cup water...bring to boil

put in 1/4 cup sugar let it come to a boil

stir then set aside

you can make some up ahead and put in a container and put it in the fridge

no food coloring

I don't take my feeders down til they are gone...I believe they know when to leave...

I don't boil the water, and use regular tap water...probably depends on what is in the local water.

I usually fill the feeder only halfway or less, and change it out often when the temps are pretty warm.

In my view, the danger to the hummers come when the mixture of sugar water sits in the hot sun....that's when the bacteria develops that is really dangerous to them.

I've been feeding them for eight years now - since we moved to our current location and into a house that came with a hummer feeder and a jar of premixed nectar in the fridge. When that jar got empty I got on the internet and found a recipe that called for using three parts water to one part sugar so I used that and the hummers turned up their noses. So I called the previous resident whi said she used 1/1 sugar/water so I've been using that since then.

oooohhh...your hummers seem to have more yellow colors than ours do! The pics I took were of females. Our males are a little darker green/black with a little red spot under their chin.

Hi Sheltie - where in AZ are you?
Those pictures are wonderful. Next time I go up to the folks house, I'll see if I can get some pics. They have several differet breeds, one of them quite large for a hummingbird.

I love my hummers! We have three one-quart size feeders, plus a 16 oz and a 12 oz sized one. In January and February, I usually have to fill each feeder every day. (Thank goodness for Costco!)

I swear that the hummers let me know when the feeders are getting low. They will fly up by the window near the computer and chirp at me. When I go out with a refilled feeder, they barely let me get it hung up before they're eating again. A couple of times, they have landed on the feeder while it was still in my hand.

Sometimes, during the day, the "bird fights" get pretty intense. We've had some "bully birds" that perch near a feeder and chase off everyone else.

Near sunset, though, they seem to get along better. During the winter, we can easily have 8 or 9 hummers on each of the larger feeders. We have even seen two birds drinking from the same small hole, while others perch next to them, waiting their turns.

As Spring progresses, the numbers decrease somewhat. I console myself, knowing that they have probably migrated back to their summer homes, where many of you enjoy them. (Plus, I can buy less sugar!)

We do have quite a few hummers here year round. We've had several nests in late spring, including one that was built on the rope light around the top of our patio cover.

This year, I've noticed more black chins and rufous than I remember from previous years. Maybe I'm just noticing them more, but they sure are pretty!

My pix aren't as nice as some of the others, but here are a couple.

I think these are rufous hummers, though they might be Allen's.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Grifsy Sue,

I do use a tiny bit of red color, mostly so I can see the liquid level in the feeders.

There are five hummers on the feeder here...pretty good for us in July, when this was taken.