Hummingbird Migration

   / Hummingbird Migration #21  
Deerherd, great video. My wife keeps over 100 fed (maybe 200 - ever tried to count hummingbirds?) every summer. Almost all left early this year - late August. We are down to about 6 or 8 now here in central Virginia.
That has to be about the most outrageous sight! My wife and I like to sit on our porch in the evening while the hummers are tanking up. We thought that around 30 were hard to count!

FWIW, what is everyone feeding? We skip the red dye believing it to be not necessary and perhaps harmful. We use 1 cup of cane suger to 4 cups of boiled water and fill the feeders when the water is at room temp. I sometimes wonder if the people at Wal-Mart think we are brewing up something else, lol!
 
   / Hummingbird Migration #22  
That has to be about the most outrageous sight! My wife and I like to sit on our porch in the evening while the hummers are tanking up. We thought that around 30 were hard to count!

FWIW, what is everyone feeding? We skip the red dye believing it to be not necessary and perhaps harmful. We use 1 cup of cane suger to 4 cups of boiled water and fill the feeders when the water is at room temp. I sometimes wonder if the people at Wal-Mart think we are brewing up something else, lol!

I used to boil the 4:1 mix, but found it still dissolves in warm tap water with some mixing. I also skip the dye as the color of the feeder is enough to attract them.

I would LOVE to see 100 of those crazies flying around, I get a kick out of 15!
 
   / Hummingbird Migration #23  
Buckgnarly said:
I used to boil the 4:1 mix, but found it still dissolves in warm tap water with some mixing. I also skip the dye as the color of the feeder is enough to attract them.

I would LOVE to see 100 of those crazies flying around, I get a kick out of 15!

Boiling the water kills any bacteria in the water and it last longer in the feeder when number are down. It keeps longer in the fridge too. I NEVER put dye in the mixture. Natural nectar is colorless so why would someone endanger the birds putting a dye in it. The National Audubon suggest not to use anything but sugar and water. these birds know what a feeder looks like and the color of the container as you say helps draw them to it. my next door neighbor has over twenty feeders out and I had six. I've had more birds this year that I ever had. by boiling your water you can put your feeder out early next spring and the mix will last nearly twice as long before it needs changing. If the water is not clear then it needs changing.

one can actually lose bird my having bad mix in there feeder. They will go elsewhere. I'm down to two or three pair now and will keep at least one feeder out till I see no more. Migrant birds will look for food as they head south. So the birds you see about this time may not be residents but flying thru. :)
 
   / Hummingbird Migration #24  
Boiling the water kills any bacteria in the water and it last longer in the feeder when number are down. It keeps longer in the fridge too. I NEVER put dye in the mixture. Natural nectar is colorless so why would someone endanger the birds putting a dye in it. The National Audubon suggest not to use anything but sugar and water. these birds know what a feeder looks like and the color of the container as you say helps draw them to it. my next door neighbor has over twenty feeders out and I had six. I've had more birds this year that I ever had. by boiling your water you can put your feeder out early next spring and the mix will last nearly twice as long before it needs changing. If the water is not clear then it needs changing.

one can actually lose bird my having bad mix in there feeder. They will go elsewhere. I'm down to two or three pair now and will keep at least one feeder out till I see no more. Migrant birds will look for food as they head south. So the birds you see about this time may not be residents but flying thru. :)
Good advice about boiling, thanks!
I've heard that once you start to feed that you really need to stay up on it. Is that because they may starve or something?
 
   / Hummingbird Migration #25  
We started by buying the mix, progressed to buying the sugar and boiling and now use instant disolving sugar that we buy in bulk. No dye, just sugar and water -- we change the solution several times a week (if it is not all consumed) and have 10 -20 birds around all season. We also have orioles with similar feeding. Feeding any wild animal makes them somewhat dependant on the feed so once you start you need to keep doing it or you disrupt the pattern that you established, potentially endangering the animal to feeding and territory problems.
This year I made ant moats out of old spray paint can caps that worked like a charm in keeping ants away. Without ants, the feed liquid seems to stay fresher longer and we dont need to sterilize the feeders as often (by boiling)
 
   / Hummingbird Migration #26  
We do the same = 4:1 water sugar boil, no dye. My wife will keep 20 feeders active at peak times, after the hatch. I think I need to learn how to grow sugar cane ($$).
 
   / Hummingbird Migration #27  
studor said:
We started by buying the mix, progressed to buying the sugar and boiling and now use instant disolving sugar that we buy in bulk. No dye, just sugar and water -- we change the solution several times a week (if it is not all consumed) and have 10 -20 birds around all season. We also have orioles with similar feeding. Feeding any wild animal makes them somewhat dependant on the feed so once you start you need to keep doing it or you disrupt the pattern that you established, potentially endangering the animal to feeding and territory problems.
This year I made ant moats out of old spray paint can caps that worked like a charm in keeping ants away. Without ants, the feed liquid seems to stay fresher longer and we dont need to sterilize the feeders as often (by boiling)

If you have pictures of your cap/moat I'd love to see them.
 
   / Hummingbird Migration #28  
Well , I thought about taking my feeders down earlier this week as I haven't seen a hummer for a while . Glad I didn't , I have one lone female straggler hitting the feeders right now. Hope she makes it to her winter home safely .
 
   / Hummingbird Migration
  • Thread Starter
#30  
We had 1 female feeding the past few days, but she left sometime Thursday. We still have feeders out just in case some northern visitors stop through.

Weather forecast is for nice weather til mid next week then lows in the upper 20s. I'm sure they will all be south by then or won't be able to survive the cold.
 
 
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