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

[PILOON]

A word of caution however.
Do not wear a red hat while refilling the feeders.
You might just get your ears cleaned.

 

[fiddlearound]

How do you guys keep ants out of your feeders?

 

[goeduck]

I believe, YES!

We have 2 feeders, front lakeside and back at kitchen window.
They go to the kitchen fly up/down then go to the front and repeat kind of saying 'we are back where is the food?'
How else would any bird know which window to go to unless he'd been there last year?

Once the feeders are up, is anyone able to tell birds apart? Per the posted food chart, I am feeding around 150 birds and no way I could visually recognize one from another.

The only clue I have on new birds is that when they initially get here, they do not know my feeders have roosts. They hover while drinking until they realize they can sit and have a drink. Beyond that they all look the same to me given the *** and species.

 

[PILOON]

How do you guys keep ants out of your feeders?

Good question, hoping to learn a trick or two.

I somewhat suspect a leak/drip or two is the cause.

One improvement I've done to my feeders is to add an "O-ring' to the mating connection and that seems to help a lot as mine no longer drip.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

How do you guys keep ants out of your feeders?

I buy the ones with a screw-on plastic cup on top that you keep full of water. The ants drown. I also take the feeder down and spray ant and roach killer where it hangs. That is a persistent poison that kills the ants if they crawl over it. After it's dry the hummers won't ingest it.

 

[goeduck]

So far I have never had an ant in my feeders, I have been at this house for 6 years. My feeders do not leak sugar water and hang off of the fascia board with an upside down serving tray over the top as an extra rain cover.

 

[sixdogs]

Yesterday, we saw two hummingbirds on the ground near the feeders and they appeared to be eating ants or bugs. We've never seen birds on the ground like this before.

 

[goeduck]

Yesterday, we saw two hummingbirds on the ground near the feeders and they appeared to be eating ants or bugs. We've never seen birds on the ground like this before.

Very interesting since they cannot walk.

 

[sixdogs]

Very interesting since they cannot walk.

Maybe they were skipping or kneeling but they were on the ground.

 

[ponytug]

They eat ants and aphids all the time here. I think it is fun to see them zipping up to an old spider web and going zip, zip, zip, gobbling up stuck insects.

All the best,

Peter

 

[goeduck]

Morebirds makes this ant trap. Or just make one out of a lid, S hook though the lid and glue the hole closed.

 

[Wakey]

Not a single HB since my last post. If it is because of Avian I fear I've lost a few generations of repeat customers. We have a ton of Cardinals, the young ones are starting to feed.

 

[fiddlearound]

Thanks guys, those were great suggestions!
I'll try them all. These are tiny ants and they end up inside the tube.
Hummers don't like them and will avoid the feeder.

 

[goeduck]

If you use a tall enough lid, you will not need to add water to offset evaporation very often

 

[ponytug]

A drop of detergent in the water trap helps sink the ants sooner.

 

[Oaktree]

The only clue I have on new birds is that when they initially get here, they do not know my feeders have roosts. They hover while drinking until they realize they can sit and have a drink.

Funny you should mention that. I don't think I'd ever seen one perch on a feeder, only hover before just now. Looked out the window just now and saw one perched on it eating.

 

[kenmbz]

We have two, and one stood on the perch for a bit.
We always seem to have 2-3, but who knows?

 

[sixdogs]

We have only a few birds so far this year when we should have more. I'm a little concerned.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

We have only a few birds so far this year when we should have more. I'm a little concerned.

I think bird flu is going to make it a tough year for a lot of wild birds.

 

[ArlyA]

We spend a bit of time in the woods each day and have note any dead birds. I just got in from inspecting a trail.