The Hummingbird Haven

[JedJackson]

I get so jealous of folks who get to enjoy hummingbirds all year long! Up here we have such a short season for them. Glad to have you join us, Jed!

Thanks for the welcome. We have cold winters here, sometimes. I am not sure how Anna's survive when everything is frozen and all flowers are dead. I think they depend on feeders.

 

[589205]

When I was taking care of baby female red-throated hummingbird that we had rescued a few years ago, I would run out into my yard chasing and catching tiny flying insects to mix into a lidded cup that was half full of sugar water in order for her to get to eat every 15-20 mins while she was awake during the daytime. This went on for 2 weeks. I would use a small coffee stirring straw to suck up the sugar water and bugs, then I would hold one end of the straw up with my index finger to keep the sugar water and bug mix in and then I would feed it to her. Sometimes she would open her beak up wide like all nesting baby birds do and other times she would just stick her whole beak into the straw to lick it clean.

This was before I had any syringe feeders on hand so it was kind of chaotic but it worked. I probably looked like a crazy madwoman if anyone saw me chasing after bugs with a cup.

 

[HomesteaderWife]

Yes, what Blooie says is true, @Isadora - boil your water if you are going to store in the fridge. I just pick up a water jug for $1 at the grocery store or two and use them to store the mix, labeling the side of the jug. If you store in the fridge, no more than a week. Dump out any unused nectar after that time to prevent spoilage. I use this when we are in the busy season, or I'd run out!

You'll want to change your nectar daily in really hot weather, it can get nasty pretty quickly especially in direct sun (maybe twice a day if it is really in sun and super hot out).

Set yourself out a tester feeder - "scout" feeder. Have a feeder with a small bit of nectar in it and set it out in a visible part of the yard. Hang something red nearby to catch a bit of wind - a ribbon, a bandana, a flag, or something of that nature. To help attract their attention! The feeder coloring, and the moving item to catch their eye nearby, is a good setup. (Those nasty red dyes are pointless and can be harmful, and some of those store-bought mixes have crazy preservatives.)

 

[Blooie]

I’ve got hummers!!! Saw the first one, an adult male Rufous, on Sunday evening. I should have been in the house packing for my Monday trip to the hospital in Billings, but sat on the porch all evening watching him.

Got home Tuesday afternoon and Ken got me settled in my deck chair on the porch. Sure enough, the little guy was back. Then suddenly on the other feeder there was an immature male Rufous feeding frantically. I guess he was grabbing what he could before the old man could show up and chase him off. But the old man didn’t show up - instead a little female flew in and hit the other feeder. So I’ve got at least 3 that are visiting regularly. No photos yet….but my heart is happy!

 

[Blooie]

@Blooie Oh I am just so happy for you! I am so glad they showed up, I know you were worried

It just ain’t summer without my hummers!! When I was first inundated with them several years ago, our local paper did a story on my yard being certified as a National Wildlife Habitat. People stopped me all the time, saying “I didn’t know we had hummingbirds here!” Soon flower beds with the plants I’d mentioned and feeders were going up all over town. My numbers plummeted after that but my faithful few showed up year after year.

This year the entire lot is different and my flowers haven't really kicked in yet. So I was overjoyed to finally see some, even though it’s late in the season so they might not be around long. My granddaughter started calling them “honeybirds“ when she first started talking, and we call them that to this day! (She’s almost 17 now) When these showed up this year, she sent me a text that simply read, “Honeybirds have arrived at the Haven!”

How about the rest of you? Getting lots?

 

[5Australorpasaures]

They're back, finally. Mixing 1 1/2 gallons a day, getting strafed constantly sitting on the porch, OSHA has deemed it a Hard Hat and Safety Eyewear area. DW is happy again. I do the mixing and feeding, there's a surprise.

 

[LTAY1946]

Caught speeding along in search of nectar.

 

[Whiskybear]

Been staying with my grandmother for over a decade (I’m cheaper than in-home nursing and even the least decent homes she could go to). Never been hummingbird feeders there since I started. But last year, a hummingbird started blitzing my face while on the porch. By fall, I promised it I would put out a feeder this year; so I did. Now, I’m pretty sure the one that pestered me into it is the l'il bugger that doesn’t wanna be looked at. I sit near the feeder, it comes up and sees if I’m looking before it will drink. If I keep staring elsewhere, it’ll fill up. If I so much as raise an eyebrow to look t it, it takes off. Others are fine, just that one is paranoid of paparazzi. Another one even came inches from my nose wanting to speak to the manager when there was a wasp on the feeder. But the one that got me into this… demands that I respect his ghosthood. Are they this quirky in general?

 

[WVduckchick]

Thanks Blooie!
I take so many pics, they are hard to choose from, but here are a few. I call the little guy "King" sitting on the shepherds hook. He guards the feeders. And one of me feeding one was taken in a park in Ohio, where they have feeding parties. People come from all around to sit and hand feed them! I sat for hours that day!

 

[oregonkat]

OK Blooie, this is not a hummingbird but a South African Sunbird (I think, I'll check with her when I next talk to her) on my sister's birdbath in South Africa a couple of years ago. Behaves very similarly to a hummer but there are none on the African continent. I took this with my sisters camera and her ENORMOUS lens. I think he looks like he is doing some kind of Japanese fan dance. I will try to get some of the hummers here.