Anyone else have an unusually large number of hummingbirds this year?

[Oaktree]

No hummingbirds here yet, but we've had an unusual number of robins this year. Probably still too cold for the hummingbirds, been an unusually cold spring with only a handful of days getting above the mid 50s. Other birds seem to be the usual ones. Saw a pair of geese with several young ones yesterday.

No seed or suet feeders here after March, too many bears in the area.

 

[goeduck]

Good article... thanks for posting. I seem to be experiencing a lull after a lot of activity a couple weeks ago.

Yes, a couple of weeks ago they were going after my feeders like drunken hummingbirds, maybe some caught a tailwind heading north. Slowed down somewhat, but still very active.

 

[dragoneggs]

Yes, a couple of weeks ago they were going after my feeders like drunken hummingbirds, maybe some caught a tailwind heading north. Slowed down somewhat, but still very active.

Maybe because there are so many natural flowers giving them lots of choices?

 

[sixdogs]

Wife had two orioles at the HB feeders this AM. Have never seen them at a feeder before so a big treat for her. It must be the late spring has the flowers slow to bloom and food is scarce.

 

[goeduck]

Yes, a couple of weeks ago they were going after my feeders like drunken hummingbirds, maybe some caught a tailwind heading north. Slowed down somewhat, but still very active.

Well, my birds are acting like drunken hummingbirds again and drinking me out of house and home.... and I love it.

I am going to out on a limb here and speculate that part of the variation I see may have to do with how well neighbors are keeping their hummingbird feeders filled. The less they do, the more birds I possibly see?

I will be refilling one in the morning and may even put up a 3rd feeder.

 

[sixdogs]

We have a few feeders now but as the summer progresses we have as many as five or six feeders up. The HB's get territorial and we often see birds defending a particular feeder from other birds.

 

[goeduck]

We have a few feeders now but as the summer progresses we have as many as five or six feeders up. The HB's get territorial and we often see birds defending a particular feeder from other birds.

You have probably mentioned this before, but with 6 feeders, what do find an optimal spacing between them is? My 2 are on the north side of the house off of the deck where they are super easy to reach when refilling. I like that. If I put a 3rd up it would be about 15 feet from each of the other 2.

 

[dragoneggs]

We currently have two feeders up and are 4 feet apart. My location requirements are simple.

1. Easy to reach
2. View from inside
3. Not too close to a door or window without screen

We have had a few come inside and they are a bugger to usher back outside!

 

[sixdogs]

You have probably mentioned this before, but with 6 feeders, what do find an optimal spacing between them is? My 2 are on the north side of the house off of the deck where they are super easy to reach when refilling. I like that. If I put a 3rd up it would be about 15 feet from each of the other 2.

We have two stick-on feeders on the kitchen bay window. About 12 ft out we have one on a hooked pole and maybe another 13 ft away another feeder on a hooked pole. We can see them all from the kitchen.

In front of the house we have one on a hooked pole maybe 8 ft away and sometimes another one 6 ft further away. We can see those two from the dining room. It takes a little effort to fill them but we spend a lot of time outside anyway. Wife does all the filling and cleaning.

Five ft apart works for us and often we have birds on the two stick-on window feeders that are only a foot apart. I don't think it's the distance so much as a feeder they can claim as their own. It doesn't matter which feeder they get, they just don't like to share as the season goes on. Right now, they're all BFF's.

 

[sixdogs]

I don't mean to post so much in this thread but we discovered something that could be of interest. We mix our own store bought HB food with our house water and recently switched from our water softener water to our well water that's not softened. All of a sudden, our number of hummingbird visits have gone from a recent few a day to maybe 75-100 visits a day. It's noon and we've already had +/- 50 visits today.

In researching it, I found some comments that birds seem to know the difference between softened water that may have salt in it and just plain old well water. This is pretty unscientific and others likely know more but that's what we discovered.



EDIT--I wonder if distilled water would be better than well water?

 

[dragoneggs]

Don't hesitate to post! I often think I am but what the heck... someone hopefully will learn or at least get a grin out of it.

On the water... makes sense. Our water is straight from our well. IIRC... we have decent traces of Manganese (toilet bowls get black streaks). We don't filter our water except the water we pull for drinking from the refrigerator. It would be interesting to see if purified water would be more attractive to them. Maybe I should treat the HB to the same water we drink?

 

[Pixguy]

Thanks Sixdogs, I also appreciate your thoughts. We are in our first year in a new home with a softener. Luckily, I tee'd off the main from the well and sent a line to two hydrants at my rear garage and that's where I'll get water for my wife's mixture of hb food. :thumbsup:

 

[goeduck]

I use well water only. Around here there is a trace of radioactivity in the water. Gives the birds some extra go go juice.

 

[Pixguy]

I use well water only. Around here there is a trace of radioactivity in the water. Gives the birds some extra go go juice.

:laughing:

 

[oosik]

I'm strictly on spring water. No radioactivity - no glowing HB's. I've reached my "normal" max number of birds - 8 - until the young are flying. Refill the feeder once a day.

 

[goeduck]

This time of year they like to sit on my tomato cages on my deck. They never face the water but there are not any predator birds interested in such a small meal to worry about. This is just taken with my iPhone, I need to get a real camera.

 

[dragoneggs]

This time of year they like to sit on my tomato cages on my deck. They never face the water but there are not any predator birds interested in such a small meal to worry about. This is just taken with my iPhone, I need to get a real camera.
View attachment 658588

Ha ha... just looking at the thumbnail pic I thought you had drawn that image. :laughing:

 

[goeduck]

Ha ha... just looking at the thumbnail pic I thought you had drawn that image. :laughing:

Here it is gargling before a night out looking for a date. Plump little resident guy, not like when the travelers get to town. They are rail thin.

 

[dragoneggs]

Yeah we definitely can tell the residents just getting fat on us vs. the passer throughs! :laughing:

 

[goeduck]

Been putting out 2 cups a day. Rufous hummers showing up more than normal lately. Rufous travel all the way to Alaska and have the longest flight path of all hummers FYI.

They are aggressive little buggers. Picture courtesy All About Birds.