Just wondering...since this is an HB forum too.
But isn't having Butterflies and Hummers on the same Forum a little bit Conflicted??
Do Hummers eat little butterflies?
So, back to my original point, I've been collecting lots of good HB links and info and I'm sure others have too.
Maybe we should make a Sticky? Or maybe go for a completely separate Forum?
Just a thought. What do you think??? t.
Do you think we should have an Hummer Sticky??
Send your suggestion to adminstration and see what they think. I'm all for getting as much hummer information as I can, and online, that means links!
I love hummers, but my passion is butterflies. I have always felt the two do not belong in the same thread. So I would sign off on requesting a separate forum for them.
You only have to look on this forum and see how many post are butterfly related vs. hummer. If they were on the bird forum, they may get lost in the shuffle however; so I would opt for the "sticky" if voted down on a separate fourm.
Hi Tabasco, I thought your question was interesting so I did a little research. I started counting all the threads.
Bird Watching forum has approximately 12 volumes of threads a season on Ruby-throated Hummingbirds and 7 volumes of threads on Western Hummingbirds. There is usually also 1 or 2 hummingbird feeder threads.
Along with those there are also individual threads but those added to the average amount on this forum wouldn't seem to be enough for it's own forum. Unfortunately most of us only see hummingbirds for 5 or 6 months a year at most.
That being said, I would love to see a Sticky on the best Nectar plants, Nesting bushes and tree's for hummingbirds.
JMHO :-)
Interesting comments, everyone. Thanks. After we get a few more opinions here, I might go to Admin with a few suggestions. Please feel free to add your comments (as I did below).
Thanks, Pelle, for the research. V. good analysis of the state of the hb posters around here. (-: Although it seems to me that the numbers you mentioned would be enough to sustain a new Forum. I'm wondering~~maybe the count for HB posts is minimized because the HB subject and posting activity isn't focussed/prominent enough?
To continue, if we made a Sticky, would you recommend that it be in the 'HB & BF GArdening Forum', or over in 'Birding'??
A few more random thoughts on making some changes:
(1) The title of this forum is 'HB and BF Gardening'. Most of the forum is about butterflies (raising and sightings, mostly, not really gardening for them) so I think at least the word 'Butterflies' should be most prominent so more 'butterfly lovers and wannabe BF gardeners' can find it more easily and make some interesting/fun posts.
(2) Possibly 'Hummers and hummer gardening' should be just a sticky over in Birding (but then it wouldn't attract anyone googling or skimming the DG forum index for HB info.)
(I think the hummer lovers get fractionated between the two DG 'birding' and 'butterfly' forums, and as a result many posters go off to outside sites/forums (like the Network 54, Journey North, GW, The Birding Forum, etc.) to find their HB info and community postings. That's been my experience, anyway.)
It looks like we are betwixt and between on placing it under the appropriate forum heading. (I am on the fence: a sticky over in 'Birding' or a complete new forum would be the way to go?)
Any more thoughts, everyone, to sway the question one way or the other?? t.
I imagine the hummer and butterfly combination seemed natural the forum was created.
Once they created the Bird Watching Forum a couple of years ago it was most natural to post about hummers there, for me anyways.
True that most of us only have them a few months. But that is true of any number of birds that are in areas during certain seasons.
I visit here during the summer and the butterfly season. Tho not much this
year unfortunately. I think a lot of people just tend to combine butterflies and hummers since they are seen at the same time of year in similar environments.
A sticky for hummingbirds would be nice for basic info...To me the birding forum seems more logical. But if it is here I can support that too. I have gotten used to coming here to look for plant info.
Not much help am I!! LOL
Edited for typos!
This message was edited Oct 19, 2009 7:40 PM
Good point. (-:
Ruby-throated posts slow down in winter, but there is a lot of hummingbird activity in the the caribbean, mexico, and in the south and west USA during the winter that could be discussed here but those posters go to other sites for posting/info (for the most part).
It seems mostly those who have 'ruby-throated' visitors post here from the looks of it. Not so much those who have the anna's, rufuses, and some of the more exotic HBs.
Just some thoughts...
Hi Tab, I think the word Hummingbird was changed to the first position in the title of this forum so it would show up on searches for hummingbirds (if my memory serves me right).
GW's hummer forum is an extremely slow forum, I don't know why but if you look at the dates of the posts you'll see what I mean.
Network 54's Hummingbird forum is much busier than GW's but they have a number of experts who are banders and/ or authors and a very loyal group. I think having the experts as regular posters is the
big difference for them. I belonged to that forum before coming to Daves (still do).
I still think a Stcky for hummer Gardening should be in this forum since it's a gardening forum and many plants are shared by hummers and butterflies.
We do have some Hummer things (not garden related) in the Sticky in the Bird Watching forum. It could be seperate by itself instead of mixed in with other birds. What were you thinking of putting in the Sticky?
Sorry Tab, I hit send before previewing so I didn't see your post.
I don't really think there is going to be much business after the 5 month period (that their here) is up.
What would substain it for 12 months? We don't have a lot of members who are from Mexico or the Carribean and the people from the south who see hummers, well I wouldn't think the number of posts we see from them now would be enough. Goodness knows it is nice to see it as we sit up here freezing in the winter. :-)
Yes, p., the banders and experts would add lots of good depth and breadth to the discussion. I guess that is one reason to break out the HB posts from the BF posts: would keep forum topics focussed and cleaner and more interesting to 'advanced' HB observers.
And I noticed along with you that GW lost a lot of posters to the 'HB Forum' on 54 (which is a most helpful forum by the way) and got me thinking that with all the thousands of posters on DG we could develop a well-rounded discussion too with gardeners who are not such 'advanced' HB gardeners but beginning to be interested and coming along and it would make a lively forum.
I have lots of stuff in my files about Hummers to put in a sticky thread and I'm sure others do to:
Academic research, loads of info on plants and sources, how to photograph, maps and migration, feeders do's and don'ts, etc., wintersowing HB plants, different species of HBs, banding and injured HBs, School projects, and so on.
I guess I just got interested in a separate thread because I read that HB gardening is one of the fastest growing 'hobbies' in the US. Seems like DG should jump in on this! And the Citizen Science data value of all the DG poster/observers could be put to good use by some researchers, I bet. Just some ideas.
More thoughts, anyone?
Well, we don't need to rush into anything that's for sure.
I think there is probably enough interest in both subjects to warrant two separate forums...We would then have a good place for the HB sticky.
2~cents
Dave
Woo Hoo!!!!....
Got too excited.... there for a minute I thought you were "the" dave. :-(
Just an thought....
When you take a picture of a hummer nectaring where do you put it? I save it sorted in a "birds" folder then named under Hummer.
When you take a picture of a butterfly nectaring where do your save it? I put it in a "butterfly/dragonfly/bee/insect" folder, then under named butterflies.
My point is I don't see the two as being together at all.
A fellow Master Gardener put together 3 educational displays on attracting Birds, butterflies, and beneficial insects/pollinators. I was looking at the one on birds and he asked me what my favorite bird was. I automatically answered "Pheobe - oops - well, I guess I meant hummingbird but I forget they are birds". He agreed and pointed out that they weren't included on his bird display, they were over on his beneficial insect and pollinator display. From a gardening/landscaping plant selection point of view, hummingbirds really don't belong with either birds or butterflies - they really are different. The better and more recent books have stopped lumping them together.
RE: Do hummingbirds eat butterflies? Most summer migratory birds eat insects. Nesting female Hummingbirds hunt tiny insects for themselves and their babies. Most butterflies are too large, but 1st instar caterpillars would be about the right size.
In my yard, my first priority is trying to keep down air-born pollen (I have allergies). My second priority is attracting birds (especially hummingbirds), butterflies, bees & pollinators, and beneficial insects. And in my own yard it is the beneficial insects that are preying on the butterflies, especially the predatory wasps. If a hummingbird feeder is attracting wasps, that is probably more of a threat to the butterflies than the hummingbirds themselves.