It's a juvenile ruby throat hummingbird. I usually see hummers just about all year long at my kitchen window. I thought all of you might enjoy this.
My Visitor Today
Lucky you. I love to see the hummers in the summer. We look forward to see them buzzing around all the flowers.I've got three feeders we put out for them.Feed them good Frannie so they can make the long trip back here this summer.
Lucky you BrugNanny. Could be a little queen you got there looking for a place to build a nest or an underground cave. Like Snow I get only to see these little guys in the summer. I have made a flowerbed especially for them and for butterflies. Lots of large poppies, ornamental thistles and lots of smallflowered plants (thought of here as weeds) from the nature to attract these. They are fond of Lupins too :)
lucky you!!!
I dont see them but in the summer, I too plant things especially for them. Something about them just tickles me.
I love seeing them, they make my day!
We only see them in our Iowa summers and I'm ready for summer yesterday!! Snow tomorrow and next day. Darn....was getting used to 60 degree weather. You are lucky, Frannie. Feed them good!! I want them healthy when they arrive here. :-)
I do take good care of them. There are few flowers left so I boil water and add sugar to it (4:1). I always sterlize the feeder before I put nectar in it. Don't want those little ones to pick up any bacteria here. They will be fat and healthy before they take off.
This message was edited Monday, Jan 28th 7:46 PM
I'm jealous!! We don't have them here for very long, but while they are here, I watch them.
I am confused. Tonny, i thought hummers were only in the western hemisphere, and Frannie, i thought the ruby throats went south for the winter? are you lucky enough to have other kinds too? now that i think about it glory mentioned still having hummers much later than me.
My friend Ruby who lives in Hattiesburg has hummers most all winter. When we were there at Christmas, she had black chinned and roufus hummers.
Arlene, they do go south for the winter. From what I have read the juveniles are the last to travel and I get little strays all winter. There have been some others, but I do not know what kind they are. I think they are juvenile also, and I am not not able to recognize all the different stages that different hummers go through. The other color is a reddish brown with white - I do not know what it is. I always worry about them when it is cold outside, but somehow they find a warm spot and seem to come back the next day.
i keep hoping some day i'll have them all year.