All About Hummingbirds - Resources, Videos, & More!

[HomesteaderWife]

Are YOU having issues with bully hummingbirds? Territorial hummers may be guarding your feeders, giving the others a hard time.
Check out the video below, and learn about this behavior. From personal experience, I will say that spacing my feeders out greatly helped. Consider planting hummingbird-friendly, native flowers as a natural nectar source (that doesn't require cleaning!) and remember that hummers also consume insects for protein.

 

[HomesteaderWife]

How can we provide food to hummingbirds, and provide them with a great place to live/migrate through? Want to create a hummingbird-friendly backyard? Curious to know what their diets are? Interested in planting flowers to attract and provide a natural nectar source?
Here are some resources and links to help you learn more:

• How to Create a Hummingbird-Friendly Yard
• Not All Sweetness And Light: The Real Diet Of Hummingbirds
• How to Open Your Own Hummingbird Restaurant
• How to Garden for Hummingbirds
• How to Make Hummingbird Nectar
• Native Plants Database

 

[HomesteaderWife]

Say NO to red dyes!
After entering our local Dollar General store, I was disappointed to see nectar mixes containing potentially harmful red dyes being sold there.
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These two nectar mixes are visible online, but sold in-store only. I was inspired to create a petition (after first sending an email of my own) to request that Dollar General removes these two products. The petition includes information and links that go in depth on why we should avoid these dyes to help out hummer friends.

Would you join me in signing by CLICKING HERE? (Petition via Change.org)

 

[HomesteaderWife]

 

[HomesteaderWife]

 

[HomesteaderWife]

Popular source Journey North, a long-running citizen science program that allows users to help document features like hummingbird arrivals and other signs of Spring, has just posted their most recent Hummingbird Migration news - make sure to submit your observations as well, and help others with the collected information! The reports of hummer sightings help others know when to put out their feeders, and provide a nectar source for these beautiful birds.

 

[HomesteaderWife]

Welcome to hummingbird season everyone!
(for those of you, who like me, wait for them to migrate in!)​

Please please share your photos and first visitor sightings here, as well as places like Journey North and Hummingbird Central maps. Your "citizen science" observations help others know when to be on the lookout for visiting hummingbirds, as well as helping them know when to put out those feeders.

Details about the species, gender, time of day, etc are welcomed if you know them. Not sure of the species? Please let us know your location, and I'll do my best to help you find out what hummingbird you are seeing!

Just picked up Peterson Field Guides - Hummingbirds of North America by Sheri L. Williamson and absolutely loving this book! If you enjoy hummingbirds and want to learn more, please make the investment in your hobby by picking this up. I have learned so much more about not only hummingbirds as a whole, but each individual species. Great photographs/plates and regional info, and well worth the buy if you want to study up and learn to identify and care for your hummingbirds.

Speaking of visitors, here is a little relaxing video of our new feeder (love the ease of cleaning, wide mouth, and port size) in the rain. You'll see our two male Ruby-throated Hummingbirds visit it closer to the end.

 

[HomesteaderWife]

Emerald the mother Allen's Hummingbird is back at it AGAIN with her second clutch of the year, that just hatched April 2nd and 3rd:

 

[HomesteaderWife]

Any hummer sightings out there yet folks?

 

[Alyssa-Bee]

Any hummer sightings out there yet folks?

I saw a hummingbird feeder with a bird on it yesterday... but it didn't look like a hummer from my distance.