I live in N. TX and didn't see hummers until late in the season last year. I have been reading about birds and think maybe I missed them earlier in the season because I didn't have my feeders out. Can someone tell me when I might expect them to come back to my area?
When should I put my feeder back out?
Iw2d gave us this great link last fall. http://www.hummingbirds.net/index.html Try that
Sidney
Thanks for that link! I will look all around that site. The cursor has a little hummer that flies with you! :)
For the last ten years, my hummingbirds have returned to TN on April 7th. I know that sounds like a lie, but I swear it's TRUE!! I believe you should put out your feeder around mid-March. You are probably a little further south than TN. Not only do they come back on the same day-they leave the same day-October 7th. I am not a nut (lol), but I belong to the Highland Rim Society of the Tennessee Ornithological Society, and we study birds extensively. Not only will they come at the same time, the same ones will come back to your yard that were there year after year. This has been proven by banding the hummingbirds and keeping records of their flights. I absolutely love the little rascals, and it's like a holiday for me when they come back!
How neat! (if you're not lying..LOL) ;) I am BAD about not recording dates for anything. Maybe I'll make a New Years resolution now to try and track mine. That map did look like they would return to my area in March. I didn't see any last March so I must have had them on their way back south. I'll get my feeder out early so I can be prepared in the habit. I do know that I've had 3 regular hummers for the last 2 years, so I bet they are the same ones. We live in a new housing area so I feel lucky to have them!
My Annas never left, so my feeders have been up all year. I have 4 that have almost become Pet like.
They sit in the trees near the feeders and scream at me if I spend to much time near the feeders....as if to say 'MOVE we're hungry!!!'
I have really grown to love them.
Hey Marc, we have been running an experiment around here. Some friends and I have dicovered if you put your feeders fairly close together in threes, you get a lot more hummers. Perhaps the "king" feels that two is enough to guard. I have 3 in the patio (heaven forbid that a hummer must get wet whilst dining lol) and they do not even bother to fly away when I come blating out the screen door. My 15 yr old son was patiently explaining to them that they were liable to get BBQed if they did not stop their antics while he was trying to burn some burgers the other night. I was on the other side of the wall laughing. They are characters. I am going to try the 3 feeder set up on the bachelor's club out in the front yard.
Janice
I have one feeder outside the kitchen window, one outside the frech doors to my bedroom, and one way out back by the garden shed. The two feeders hanging on the house get used every few minutes
whereas the one on the shed out in the yard is very infrequently visited.
I've decided the hummers like the atention they get by being watched, so eat/drink from the feeders where they will be noticed. "Look at me, look at me!!!!" I just love the little buggers
Marc
Mine will now sit 3 and 4 at a time at the feeders. In all the years I have been feeding the little beggars, this is a first. It looks like a bridge club out there. They gab and chitter all day until sunset and are back at about 5 am. I have never before had them sit at the feeders for such long stretches. It is fun!!
Have you ever used one of the feeders that suctions onto the window? I am afraid they will knock their little brains out one the windowglass. My kitchen window looks at the cactus garden (and a fence) and is the hummer hIghway to and from my front and back yards. Right now they are nipping at the blooming aloes and mother of thousands.
Janice
Never even seen the ones with suction cups....your right though I'd be afraid they'd knock themselves out. :-)
I have a large potted plant right outside my kitchen nook window and I stuck one of those shepherd hooks there in the pot and hung a feeder on it. They come right up to the window and feed and I can sit and watch them while I drink coffee in the morning. Sometimes they sit right on top of the hook or on the back of the lawn chair on the patio. If any should dare to go outside on the patio they get chirped at as if we had the nerve to invade their space. I can't wait until they come back. I have four feeders. One a little farther away but all clearly visible from my kitchen nook windows. I'm planting red runner beans in my vegetable garden this summer for them as well as us. I tell ya it's a madness.
-Juli
I have a large shepherd's hook in the bed that is right next to my living room window. I hang the feeder from it so that we can see them when we are in there. My kitchen is straight across so I can see them from in there too. :) I had red Cypress vines growing on my hook last year and the hummers loved it. I'm sure they reseeded everywhere so I'll have them again.
My FAVORITE thing is watching the hummers play with my cats! When they figure out that the cats can't get them, they taunt them. They will fly low and look straight at them and then kind of dart back and forth. One day last year one was actually looking inside the windows for the cats! I have 2 big windows and it looked in one, went to the other, then went to the backdoor and looked in that window! The cats just don't know what to do. I could probably get a feeder to put on the window since they are so brave.
I've seen them taunt our cats, too. Risky business!
I planted Red Salvia and red petunias in the pot and a few others in the pot under the shepherd's hook and feeder. So they would go to either and feed. I can't wait til they come back. I haven't seen them yet. I was so excited to learn that the same ones will all come back here every year. I'm still trying to figure out out what kind they are. I think that I have a few different types cuz some of them look so very different than others. I'm hoping to get a digital camera to take pics to study long after they have flown off. I can then compare it to pics in books or online. It's a madness I'm tellin ya.
-Juli
Oh yea Juli, we know it's addictive. My DM in Charlotte had several, but I can't seem to get their attention here. I am going to really go all out this year with Hybrid Trumpet vines in Yellow and Pale Orange, lots of Petunias, Red runner beans, and salvias. I also hope to have several Brugmansias.
With 2 window feeders and 2 hanging, surely some will spend the summer with me.
Sugarweed, you mentioned that you had 2 window feeders. Are they the suction cup type that attaches to the window? There was a little bit mentioned about them earlier in this thread. They would be ideal for me as our dinning room is 1 1/2 storys from the ground and if I hung a typical type feeded from the eaves, I would worry on a windy day that it might strike the window. If yours is a suction cup type, have you had any problems with it? eg. birds hitting the glass when they see their reflection?
I've had them several places and no proublem.
My first feeder was bought by Daddy in 72. I had sliding glass doors and bought Red Flower type decals to put on the door so people wouldn't walk into them and hurt themselves at a party.
Before the party a hummer came to the door trying to drink from the decal.
Daddy flew to the hardware store while DM boiled sugar water.
The Hummers built a nest in the tree 8' out that door.
That's what I need is a good tree for them to nest and perch in.
I live pretty close to Sugerweed and put out 2 feeders the 1st year I moved here from Arizona and Nevada. My feeders the first year were fairly populated with birds but I felt I needed more so last year I put out 4 feeders........and WOW.......once they all came back you had them dive bombing you while you worked in the garden if you wore bright ponytail scrunchie. I will say that I put my feeders out way early last year......I was so anxious for them to come home.....everyone told me the end of Feb. was way to early. My neighbors all told me that I had way more birds than they did last year......maybe putting out early helped. I can't wait......they are a part of my joy and laughter from sun up to sundown when they are home.
Will see if I can find a pic from last year to share.
I know they are here, I just can't lure them to my house.
Do your neighbors have feeders out? The babies from last year will find your feeders if someone in the neighborhood had out feeders and kept them full and fresh all season. My parents live next door to me and they swear that I stole all their birds.
Here is a pic from last year. I do know that I planted pentas (red) last year and they bloomed and stayed neat all spring and right to the 1st frost. Try them the butterflies love them too.
Sugarweed earlier you gave a fantastic link. While I was wandering around the site I found this pic of the pentas I grew. Check it out.....I tell you I just tossed a small plant in the ground, at the time I got the plant as a gift had no time for getting the right soil or researching where it would do best, and it was one of the most popular flowers in my garden.
http://www.rubythroat.org/GalleryFlower02.html
Mmmm .. this, is about the umpteenth thread, since I joined DG .. that I've seen the name 'Pentas' used strongly associated to drawing the Hummers !! Must be something to it .. (hee)
StacyS .. like to pass along, a big 'hearty' welcome to DG to ya too !!
Sugarweed .. gonna be crossin' mah fangers, T's, and anythin' else I can get hold of .. that you'll get flogged and flooded by the lil flying jewels this year !! Most everyone deserves to be able to be graced by their visits and enjoy their dive-bombing antics ... (hee)
- Magpye
Thanks Magpie and all ya'll. I had some Red pentas that even "Wilded out" to about 4' tall and flowerheads at many levels. They still didn't pull em in.
A lot has changed this last year. A 50' water oak that was diseased was removed from the south corner of my house. Many more well watered plants have been added. I have removed several 30yr old azealeas and a mimosa. All those tired old overgrown plantings that make a house look dated and tired. There remains my 3 huge live oaks out front and a water oak in back.
What would be a good foundation friendly 12' tree. Wonder if I can use a royal Brugmansia for this tree.
Sidney
Great thread for a newbie hummer-er :) My mom has always had hummers, but I'm just trying for the first time this year. I was wondering if the beginning of March would be too early....hmmm.... maybe not :) I'll check out the links ya'll provided, thanks! Looks like I'm going to Walmart to buy more feeders, too. Just one doesn't seem like much of a draw with you all talking about 3-4!!! I was going to put some pentas in a half whiskey barrel with some herbs for flutterby larvae, maybe I should put a shepherd's hook in it for a hummingbird feeder??? I have a hook next to the kithcen window for the same purpose. One more spot should do the trick!
BTW, my DH's 87 yo grandma has had a suction cup hummer feeder on her kitchen window for years with no trouble. I did some canning with her last summer and literally every time I was at the sink a couple of hummers were hanging out at that feeder. I'd never been soooo close to a hummingbird for such a long time :) Now you know why I want feeders this year!!! LOL ;)
hugahosta .. yep, fetch yourself several hummer feeders! ... I know you're gonna have a ball!!
And a wonderful lil shortee tale about your Grandma and her window suction cup 'model' . Thanks for sharing it with us ..
- Magpye
We have a Wild Birds Unlimited store about 15 minutes away from my house. Maybe in the next few days I'll head over there for a look at their feeders. The first link given in this thread, www.hummingbirds.net , gave some great info about a feeder called a Hummzinger. Bee & wasp proof and also includes an ant mote to deter ants. Kind of steep at $17, but maybe worth it. Didn't know bees were attracted to yellow until I read that site, no yellow on the Hummzinger. Just thought I'd pass along the info. BTW, I also learned that red dye may not be the safest for hummers... thanks for posting that site. I know much more about this "commitment" I'm making now :)
Thanks hugahosta for that info on your Grandma's feeder. I think I will go ahead and buy one (maybe two) now. :D
Hugahosta
I've read that Pineapple Sage(an herb) attracts hummies also. Maybe it would be a good one for your whiskey barrel. I tried it last year but by the time I planted it, mid summer, it was too hot and it died. I'm gonna try it in my large pots on my patio again and plant it early so that it can maybe get growing before the heat sets in. I have a shepherd's hook right in the pot with a feeder on it and it works great.
-Juli
All I hafta say is that every single last one of my Salvias attracts my sunbirds. They hop from one to the other in pure joy. That said, they spend most of their time in my garden on the S. fulgens. They love love love that one. I bet hummers would be the same since they both go after the nectar in the same way. :-)
-Julie
Please note that folks along the gulf coast and Florida can expect their first ruby-throats in about two weeks!!! And then, the progression north begins. :-)
Ahh, John .. ya jes couldn't retain yaseff .. and had to go and rub it in, didntja !! ...
(wellll, don't blame ya none either - fer I'd've done the same thing - hee )
- Magpye
It will be the end of March for me and early April for you Mags. Check previous years maps at the link in the second posting above.
Thank you for the heads up John.
You bet.
I wish they mapped Calif. How are we supposed to know when to expect them back? Did anybody find a map for us?
-Juli
Julie64, start a new thread in the Butterflies and Hummers Forum asking that very question. There are a number of people here at DG that are knowledgeable about west coast hummers.
Thanks!
-Juli
Here's that thread; http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/484901/
Julie, that's exactly what I was thinking...Im planning on putting a feeder on a shepherd's hook right in the barrel with my herbs for butterflies. Asclepias tuberosa attracts butterflies and hummers, so it's planned to take center stage with just a few of the black swallowtail host plants around it :) Fun! I'm excited for this new "hummer challenge" :)
Another good hummingbird site. It discusses wintering and out of range birds:
http://www.trochilids.com/