I just got a feeder and few attracting plants this year. Thankfully my effort has been rewarded with frequent visits. But I have a bully. Anytime one of the smaller guys shows up he dive bombs them out of nowhere. Like he isn't feeding or even visible from my view but bam he gets them as soon as they land on the feeder. I feel so bad when the smaller one comes back later because you can see him flitting all around nervously and taking quick sips just waiting to get chased away. I know males are territorial but I don't want to go to the trouble of making a bigger habitat next year if it is going to be like this all the time. Any suggestions so everyone can share?
Fighting hummers
Hi Kelly, Put up another feeder on the opposite side of the house. I keep 1 feeder in the backyard and 1 in the front. He can't protect the whole property but there are always going to be hummers that try to protect a feeder, it's just the way they are. Good Luck.
I will definitely try that. It is so funny the way he protects the feeder but never uses it. The big guy only likes the zinnias.
The more feeders, the less fighting, they get their sips
We hung several smaller ones (they have a suction cup that sticks to our windows.) It is fun to watch the bully try to protect all of them, then the little guys sneak over to the main feeder. The bully puffs up his feathers and tries to look big.
I have 20 to 30 migration birds, at least, flying around my feeders and flowers fighting all day long. It must be like puppies wrestling. Well mine are feeding despite all the fighting or fun. They are drinking more than a quart a day, plus 4 different kinds of salvia, butterfly bushes, small desert willow and a few trumpet vine flowers. It looks like a world war I airplanes dogfighting.
I hear ya Wildcat. I have 9 feeders up because I don't have a lot of blooming flowers in my back yard. We just moved here in Dececmber. Have a lot of plants, just not flowers. When I am outside watering my plants, they buzz and zip all around me. I just LOVE those little guys. My 'bullies' have their feeders, and the others have the rest.
