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

[Gem99ultra]

It seems many are noticing the same thing my wife and I are noticing... this year seems the count is pretty low so far. We could go through 2 feeders in less than a day. Currently 1 is lasting a couple of days. I think the most I've seen at the feeders this year was 3 or 4, and it was only 1 time early in the morning at first light.

Exactly the same here in mid-Georgia. Most I've seen was yesterday with a 5-count. Perhaps they're just slow coming down this year.

 

[John0829]

Our count here in KY has slowly increased it seems as the heat has increased. Currently we are at about 2/3's the number we have had in the past couple of years, hope it gets back to normal at some point.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

I suspect bird flu has taken a toll. Another species that is rare this year is the great horned owl. We typically have three nesting pairs within earshot, sometimes four. This year I heard one female calling for a mate, but she did not stick around. There are no nests within earshot. There are some vultures, but not as many as usual. The ravens, jays, robins, and doves seem to be doing fine, but the hordes of little junkos have vanished.

 

[ultrarunner]

I’m calling it and taking down my two feeders as this is the second year with no action after many years I was refilling every 2 to 3 days.

 

[kenmbz]

I just refilled mine, have the usual 2-3 birds.
Less robins than usual, plenty of vultures and other larger birds so far.

 

[Runner]

So far this year, I've only seen two humming birds and neither one was hanging around the flowers. They were both doing "strange" things. One was hovering in the air around the spray from my garden hose and the other was hovering outside my living room window peering inside.

We have tons of flowers around the back patio and front porch where they normally stop to feed, but not doing it this year. So strange.

 

[NoTrespassing]

We seem to have less ruby hummers this year but no shortage of others. 2 weekends ago I recorded the following birds at 5am. Noticeably absent from the list is the house sparrow which we have a ton of, they must have still been asleep LOL.

I've seen gold finches but haven't got them to the thistle feeder yet. I neglected that feeder last year and it had old seed in it.

Indigo Bunting
Norther Cardinal
Weed Thrush
Yellow-breasted Chat
Eastern Towhee
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Tufted Titmouse
American Crow
Blue Jay
Gray Catbird
Ruby-Throated Hummingbird

 

[John0829]

I suspect bird flu has taken a toll. Another species that is rare this year is the great horned owl. We typically have three nesting pairs within earshot, sometimes four. This year I heard one female calling for a mate, but she did not stick around. There are no nests within earshot. There are some vultures, but not as many as usual. The ravens, jays, robins, and doves seem to be doing fine, but the hordes of little junkos have vanished.

Around here the owl population is definitely doing well, go out at night and it is almost deafening sometimes there are so many more than in years past. Also a large increase in vultures although the robin, cardinal and jays do seem to be down a bit.

Must be something to do with the area of the country why some are seeing increased numbers while others have reduced numbers, just hard to figure which species it is affecting. Whatever it is.

 

[NoTrespassing]

Around here the owl population is definitely doing well, go out at night and it is almost deafening sometimes there are so many more than in years past. Also a large increase in vultures although the robin, cardinal and jays do seem to be down a bit.

Must be something to do with the area of the country why some are seeing increased numbers while others have reduced numbers, just hard to figure which species it is affecting. Whatever it is.

We use Merlin Bird ID to call in owls. It's pretty cool to watch 2 or 3 of them fly in and try to find the invader. The Indigo Buntings also seem very receptive to calls.

 

[psvfd]

We use Merlin Bird ID to call in owls. It's pretty cool to watch 2 or 3 of them fly in and try to find the invader. The Indigo Buntings also seem very receptive to calls.

I got the Merlin Bird ID app, great app.

 

[NoTrespassing]

I got the Merlin Bird ID app, great app.

Yep, one of my favorite Saturday and Sunday activities when I wake up at about 5am. I go sit on the covered porch with a cup of coffee and ID birds by their calls. Then I use a few of the many calls for those birds to call them in closer where I can actually see them.

 

[John0829]

I got the Merlin Bird ID app, great appU

Use the app all the time because SWMBO is always asking about some bird song she is hearing.

 

[goeduck]

I got the Merlin Bird ID app, great app.

What will they think of next?

 

[sixdogs]

We noticed a downturn in birds at the feeders the past week but this morning my wife saw HB's eating bugs off the Hostas and getting nectar from its flowers. One also briefly stopped at the window feeder. I think we forget that most of their diet is bugs.

 

[goeduck]

We noticed a downturn in birds at the feeders the past week but this morning my wife saw HB's eating bugs off the Hostas and getting nectar from its flowers. One also briefly stopped at the window feeder. I think we forget that most of their diet is bugs.

I often see parts of bugs in the feeder trays when I clean them out. I figure it is off of their bills (technically they have bills, not beaks).

 

[NoTrespassing]

I often see parts of bugs in the feeder trays when I clean them out. I figure it is off of their bills (technically they have bills, not beaks).
View attachment 3775300 View attachment 3775301

Tooth-billed hummingbird - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Is that a toothedbiled hummingbird?

 

[sixdogs]

We had a slow opening to this HB season but we moved a few feeders around, which may or may not be responsible and have been getting swarmed with birds. We probably had 50 visits that we saw at the kitchen window feeder yesterday and wife says the other feeders out front are using even more food. Also, I saw a very young HB approach a feeder. Very cute.

I'm not sure what's going on. Did moving the feeders help? Is there an absence of bugs to eat? Little birds on their own?

 

[Oaktree]

I'm not sure what's going on. Did moving the feeders help? Is there an absence of bugs to eat? Little birds on their own?

We've also seen an increase in them this year, we did move the feeder. We'll see 4 or 5 of them buzzing around it at times, NEVER saw that many at one time before. This is also the first year I've had to refill the feeders because they were empty...usually it gets changed because it's been sitting for several weeks.
I see that mosquitoes are part of their diet, and they haven't been as plentiful this year as they have in the past. May be part of it.

 

[ultrarunner]

All I can think is the Hummingbirds are mimicking California’s General out migration…

I did see a lone one yesterday…

 

[CalG]

I fill our small sugar water feeder every day. It's often that there are thee pairs "fighting" over access to the feeder while we are sitting out on the deck for supper.
I'm not sure if this is more or less than "normal".
Is there any place in North America that DOESN'T have hummers in summer?
I do not recall seeing them as a kid in the Dakotas, but I was young then ;-)