An informal poll about Ruby-throat Hummingbirds

I live in a suburban area in Colorado with large lots where Xeriscape is popular, combining high desert with high prairie, near the foothills. I started planting my hummingbird plants seven years ago and only had one neighbor who was also trying to attract them. I saw very few hummingbirds the first two years - they definately prefer the Mountains. Then we had a colder spring and wetter summer than usual which must have moved some of them out of the mountains, and I have been on their map ever since. Last year was my best year. I had 4 different varieties including Calliope (only once), a nesting pair of Black-chinned, a few Rufous passing through, and up to 6 broad-tailed. This year was pretty good - the downside is the hummingbirds were supposed to have left at the end of September but I've got at least two still hanging around in mid-October. I guess one can be too successful attracting them.

Wow that is great Pollen!

That would be cool to have all those types.

A photo bugs paradise

Hello, i love having a place to post pictures of my hummingbirds and other great backyard birds i get. I am adding a few pictures of my hummingbirds. I even had one stuck in my garage who was nearly exhausted. We got him out and it happily flew off. Did you know that hummingbirds usually return to the same feeders after migrating and coming back to us. So always have your feeders up and ready to go as early as April here in the Midwest. It is now the middle of Oct and i have now took my feeders down, sadly i must say. I call them Gods Jewels, as they are a precious delicate gift. I live in a almost rural area, right on the edge of town, and we have lots of blue Spruce trees lining our backyard. We also live across the street from a lake and wooded area so i think this helps with the many hummingbirds i get.

Notice this little gem, flying in my garage trying to find away out

Look closely at him sitting behind the wires on the garage door opener.

Hummingbird picture taken through my bedroom window.

Hummingbird at my dining room window

Feeding!

Rubythroated hummer landing.

I posted a message Oct 9 & may not have made my point. I admit I was bragging on my birds a little. But my point was: a lot depends on the weather, and whether the weather affects the hummingbirds usual routes and food sources. If you are off their usual route, it may take a few seasons before conditions force them to go looking for alternate food sources - but then they will find you. After that, they will remember you and come back. In my case, once they found me, I was fortunate enough for some birds to make my yard their primary territory. So don't give up yet - you can attract hummingbirds even if there isn't a lot of birds or bird habitat near by - but it may take some foul weather someplace else to do it.

Welcome Twohassles! We're kinda neighbors. Send me some of your hummies!

Pollen, I hope you are right. In spring I don't get very many, just a couple, but the fall I get plenty. So some day I expect I'll have more. I'm encouraged that I saw one in the middle of July.

I live in Suburban/Town. Actually, South St. Louis County. There are about 400 houses in the subdivision. My lot isn't large, but I pack a lot of hummer friendly plants into the space I have to work with. When I started planting for hummers I did so on a small scale, and once they started hanging around, I started researching and planting more attractors to bring them in! The most I have ever seen at one time is 4, so I figure there are probably more in the area, but since they don't wear name tags I have no idea how many individuals I actually get each season. When they arrive in my area, (April 1st on the average), I usually experience some close encounters when I'm outside gardening. And once the babies are out of the nest, there is always at least one hummer somewhere in my yard. I have found I am having more group sightings each year because I've been fine tuning the plants I grow, through trial and error, not repeating plants that are not the best source of nectar. This was the first year I actually saw hummers "hawking" bugs mid-flight and they were doing this branch hopping in the trees, poking around the forks of branches, eating bugs, I assume. I've been working to create a hummingbird habitat and I guess I'm succeeding.

In the spring I check the migration map daily to see where the hummers are so my feeders will be ready when they arrive. I leave the feeders up until the end of November just in case.

Surburban/town Houses close by, lots of flowering plants and trees. Nice shot Mr. Ed

my last hummer left aweek ago as we have had very below normal temps and rain. Iam sad = {

Hi, Mrs Ed,

Of course you know I have been following your plight and am perplexed as you are about why those little flying jewels keep avoiding your yarden. (they just don't know what they are missing!). So I was doing some googling about your part of Illinois.

Anyway, I found this interesting interactive map on the eBird website that shows all their sightings for hummers by area. The way I have it set up is for Whiteside County, but you can arrange the map so that you can view the whole state or up to 15 counties surrounding your town. And you can change the dates to any month(s) you want:

http://ebird.org/ebird/GuideMe?cmd=decisionPage&speciesCodes=rthhum&getLocations=counties&counties=US-IL-195&bYear=1900&eYear=2009&bMonth=1&eMonth=12&reportType=species&parentState=US-IL

I think eBird is fun to play with and you might get some clues about why the HBs are not breeding in your yard.

Also, anyone interested can do searches for many other species too. Very fascinating tool.

Oh, by the way, I would classify our property as semi-rural (we have a woods behind our house).

Good luck, t.

Hey, Tab… that's great! checking it out now.

Almost Rural — you live in a developed area in a rural setting.

Woods on two sides and a lake on one side

We had lots of rubys this year, first arrived April 17-09 and the last one just left Oct 20-09
We did have one female with strange color this year, didn't fit any discriptions in the books.