Hummingbird Migration

GPintheMitten · Sep 20, 2012

Around here (Flushing, Michigan) they have been showing up on Mothers' Day and leaving on Labor Day. This year they stayed until sometime last weekend, Sept 15th. They were gone when we got back home from the cabin.

We don't seem to get any members of a migrating flock. Typically we have 2 nesting pairs each summer and their offspring.

g0rd0 · Sep 20, 2012

this summer we had at least 3 families in and around us drinking up the feeders and makeing the rounds of our garden. They left 2 weeks ago

Buckgnarly · Sep 20, 2012

We had WAY more than ever this year, at least 15 towards Labor Day. They would go through 8 cups of sugar water a day. Left about two weeks ago, but i do leave mine out for a while as some stop by on their way South for a refresh!

jcummins · Sep 20, 2012

Yep...same here. Just this evening we noticed the numbers down. Sad, hate to see them go.

QRTRHRS · Sep 20, 2012

The hummers were especially slow to build in number this year though we did get to about 30. Down to maybe eight now. We cut down in our feeders as the numbers dwindle but keep at least one going as long as there are birds using it. Hard to say if the "onsey twoseys" we see are summer residents are birds moving through. One of my favorite memories is watching hummers feeding at a restaraunt located at the mouth of the Bay of Fundy years ago. At the time, I had not realized how far north they go.

On a side note, when the swallows leave in relatively early August, I am suddenly aware of that summer is fast coming to an end.

wngsprd · Sep 22, 2012

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.

sixdogs · Sep 23, 2012

We put our feeders up late in the summer and are new at this. We only had maybe 10 birds and put up three feeders spaced about 20 ft apart.
How are you guys attracting so many birds?

sixdogs · Sep 23, 2012

We put our feeders up late in the summer and are new at this. We only had maybe 10 birds and put up three feeders spaced about 20 ft apart.
How are you guys attracting so many birds?

Ken45101 · Sep 23, 2012

sixdogs said:
We put our feeders up late in the summer and are new at this. We only had maybe 10 birds and put up three feeders spaced about 20 ft apart.
How are you guys attracting so many birds?

Putting them up in late summer is probably why your numbers are down (although ours were much lower this year than usual). If you get the feeders up early enough, they may nest in the area and you get many, many hummers when the babies leave the nest and start feeding on their own.

Ken