I am still changing the two hummingbird feeders I have every day and sometimes twice a day. There are many hummers coming here looking for food sources. I don't mind at all. Actually I am glad to be able to help the little critters. The boss (dominant male) who has lived here for two years now doesn't really like it but he doesn't have a lot of alternatives. For instance, yesterday I saw many hummingbirds in the garden, although three in particular came to my view. The boss attacked a male that was trying to sample the feeder on the south side of the garden. The male that was eating flew away with the boss in pursuit. Then the third male who was on the other side of the garden next to the feeder there, flew to the first feeder and started to leisurely feed off that feeder for a minute or two. This ended abruptly when the boss came back. I have seen something like this going on for hours. Everybody takes a turn to eat using this method...LOL.
HAVE A GOOD DAY!!!
Thanks,
Chuck
Hummingbirds from fire areas
Good for you! So glad you are helping out the little birds!
Chuck- That is so cool! I so envy you all the little birdies! I finally got to see my very first one in real life this past weekend. Now I want lots of them in my yard! I just think they are amazing creatures! What a wonderful gesture to help out these poor little birds who have been run out of their habitats because of all the fires in CA. :-) :-)
Thanks to both of you...
Chuck
I keep having to change my feeders too. I keep getting ants in my feeders blahhhh.... any good solution, one year I found this thing to hang between the feeder and the hanger and since I have never found them again
Steph - Wally World sells them for a buck. I bought 2 last time I saw them there and they work perfect! I haven't checked lately to see if they still have them. They have moved all their Christmas stuff in and moved the gardening stuff out. So ...
Steph,
One year I used the lids off of WD-40, old lotion,cough medicine cups, or any that would be sturdy enough to punch a hole in.
Wash out lids you find....then (I used an old icepick) heat up a sharp object and do this outside...poke a hole in the middle of the lid just large enough to push the feeder wire through. If it wants to slide all the way down I tied a garbage sack twist tie on the feeder wire and that fixed that...then I placed some vaseline inside the lids and viola no more ants!!!
LOL any questions just holler.....I really need a coffee...brb.
Lauri
You know, Steph, I used to have that problem too. I tried two different kinds of feeders and both were always full of ants. Then I found The Bird Shed in New England. Their saucer style hummingbird feeders have a moat-like ant guard built in. I still have to keep them full of water but checking the water level daily beats having ants in the hummingbird feeders. I am pretty sure that their website is http//www.thebirdshed.com/info.html. If that doesn't come through just google saucer-type hummingbird feeders with ant guards. I was so excited about the first feeder I tried from them that within two months, I ordered a larger one with six feeding stations.
I hope this helps...
Sorry about responding so late,
Chuck
I have 5 of those saucer type feeders and no ants, unless I let the "well" run dry. Also, other birds will eat the insects out of the well! I like them because they are so easy to keep clean. I got mine at Cooper's seed. Your local bird store might have them, too.
One of the things that I have done to prevent ants from getting in the feeder is to rub the hanger with some grease that my husband uses to lubricate car parts. The ants don't like to crawl over that grease and I don't have a problem.