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

[dragoneggs]

Okay I am gonna havta blame my wife and her gardening. We seem to have so much in bloom that the hummers are passing up the feeder lately for the real thing. Why would anybody pass up high octane at a much higher dose? :confused3:

 

[Larry Caldwell]

We have a big hummer flight this year. We have been going through about 10 lbs of sugar a month feeding them. We make our own nectar:

1 cup of white sugar in a quart fruit jar
Fill fruit jar with water
Nuke 5 minutes
Stir to finish dissolving sugar, and cool.

This is a hummer motel. We have a creek in the back yard, with a woodpecker and flicker working the snags, so there are dozens of hummer nesting holes.

We have an outdoor aviary. We have been feeding a birdseed mix for years, and have attracted finches, juncoes, jays, doves, and grosbeaks to the feeder. Bug eaters and meat eaters fend for themselves, but seem to be doing well. We have a pair of ravens in the woods, hawks, owls, vultures, robins, phoebes, swallows, etc. Pumping out 50 lbs. of birdseed a month year after year has done a number on the fertility of the land around our house. The trees are taller, the grass is greener, and the berries are bigger. It's expensive fertilizer, but spreading it is easy.

 

[goeduck]

We have a big hummer flight this year. We have been going through about 10 lbs of sugar a month feeding them. We make our own nectar:

1 cup of white sugar in a quart fruit jar
Fill fruit jar with water
Nuke 5 minutes
Stir to finish dissolving sugar, and cool.

This is a hummer motel. We have a creek in the back yard, with a woodpecker and flicker working the snags, so there are dozens of hummer nesting holes.

We have an outdoor aviary. We have been feeding a birdseed mix for years, and have attracted finches, juncoes, jays, doves, and grosbeaks to the feeder. Bug eaters and meat eaters fend for themselves, but seem to be doing well. We have a pair of ravens in the woods, hawks, owls, vultures, robins, phoebes, swallows, etc. Pumping out 50 lbs. of birdseed a month year after year has done a number on the fertility of the land around our house. The trees are taller, the grass is greener, and the berries are bigger. It's expensive fertilizer, but spreading it is easy.

WOW!! You are my new role model! I have a lot of saltwater birds that are beyond my ability to support (but thriving). I need to start providing for the seed eating birds!

 

[sixdogs]

We used to get maybe 25 bird visits for the year but the wife persisted on putting up feeders and faithfully rinsing and refilling them frequently for several years. Last year we got a lot more and this year have had maybe 700-1000 bird visits so far. She thinks more. Some had to be returning birds because they went straight to a hidden feeder in early spring and seemed to know it was there.

Wife goes through a quart of food per week and we have noticed birds feeding before dawn and late into dusk. We've had as many as maybe 70 bird visits a day and just during the time we were sitting in the kitchen and paying attention.

 

[BoylermanCT]

We went from 4 feeders to 8 this year and the hummingbirds doubled too. The new feeders are on the other side of the house and they found them within 4 hours of being out.

 

[goeduck]

I only have 2 feeders up but they are large with 6 stations each. One is around the corner from the other but the birds feed primarily at the one that I started with. They have quite a memory for feeder locations. Next year I plan to go to 3 feeders and will probably add one near the initial feeder.

 

[oosik]

A month ago I had two pair. Now - only one pair. Usual number is four to six pair. I just wonder if it's because we are having so much cool wx and rain.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

We used to get maybe 25 bird visits for the year but the wife persisted on putting up feeders and faithfully rinsing and refilling them frequently for several years. Last year we got a lot more and this year have had maybe 700-1000 bird visits so far. She thinks more. Some had to be returning birds because they went straight to a hidden feeder in early spring and seemed to know it was there.

Wife goes through a quart of food per week and we have noticed birds feeding before dawn and late into dusk. We've had as many as maybe 70 bird visits a day and just during the time we were sitting in the kitchen and paying attention.

Birds return to successful nesting sites. If it's a good place, the population will grow year upon year. We had birdseed out for a decade before the first grosbeak showed up, and now we have a whole flock.

 

[/pine]

FWIW...
It varies to locales...but those with summer resident hummer populations...there will always be surges of feeder activity as soon as a clutch hatches out of the eggs and the females are satisfied...a week to ten days later the much smaller offspring will begin visiting the feeders...a second breeding season can bring on actual swarms of feeder activity...the WX is the common denominator...!

 

[sixdogs]

We have what we believe are this years babies showing up at the feeders. They are tiny and voracious feeders and really cute to watch. We are pretty sure we've seen a number of birds that were here last year either as regulars or migrating fly-bys. Imagine a tiny bird flying 1000 or 1200 miles one way and then turning around and flying back to the place they left?

 

[NoTrespassing]

Anybody have downy woodpeckers eating sugar water? We have one that's addicted to it out of our Oriel feeder. We have never seen that before this year.

Kevin

 

[goeduck]

We have what we believe are this years babies showing up at the feeders. They are tiny and voracious feeders and really cute to watch. We are pretty sure we've seen a number of birds that were here last year either as regulars or migrating fly-bys. Imagine a tiny bird flying 1000 or 1200 miles one way and then turning around and flying back to the place they left?

I have not seen any babies yet but sure look forward to seeing some.

 

[dragoneggs]

I guess my wife's flowers are running out of juice. I refilled a feeder this evening and the suckers didn't even wait for me to hang the feeder! And they are loud when only a foot or so away! I think they know me now and don't feel threatened. Don't bite the hand that feeds you... they say.

Mixed up another quart at 4:1. Ran out of ingredients... "HONEY... we need more sugar!"

 

[sixdogs]

I have not seen any babies yet but sure look forward to seeing some.

Here you go. This is what I believe is a baby from this year and we have many buzzing around. They keep approaching my red hat when I'm wearing it. Pics taken with a telephoto from inside the house.

 

[psvfd]

I guess my wife's flowers are running out of juice. I refilled a feeder this evening and the suckers didn't even wait for me to hang the feeder! And they are loud when only a foot or so away! I think they know me now and don't feel threatened. Don't bite the hand that feeds you... they say.

Mixed up another quart at 4:1. Ran out of ingredients... "HONEY... we need more sugar!"

Checked the feeder this morn, "empty". I know when I checked yesterday late afternoon it had some. Put fresh feeder out this morn and there was one waiting for me to hang it up. Not sure how many birds there is but they are drinking it up.

 

[goeduck]

Here you go. This is what I believe is a baby from this year and we have many buzzing around. They keep approaching my red hat when I'm wearing it. Pics taken with a telephoto from inside the house.

Thank you. Cute little buggers they are. My activity dropped off, I assume Dragoneggs wifes flowers must be in bloom and they are over at his place.

 

[goeduck]

Here you go. This is what I believe is a baby from this year and we have many buzzing around. They keep approaching my red hat when I'm wearing it. Pics taken with a telephoto from inside the house.

Thank you. Cute little buggers they are. My activity dropped off, I assume Dragoneggs wifes flowers must be in bloom and they are over at his side of the peninsula.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

People forget hummers also eat small insects like gnats and mosquitoes. A few dozen hummers can really reduce the mosquito population. Sugar is for energy, but they need protein too. I haven't seen a mosquito at my house yet this year.

 

[sixdogs]

For a number of years we went through all the motions and didn't get many birds. Then it exploded last year and we had dozens of birds. This year started strong and we actually saw birds that were here the prior year. So they returned and now have had lots of babies. It's hard to tell how many but I'll bet we are having maybe 400-500 bird visits to the feeders per day. Likely more. Wife has already gone through a year's supply of food and the birds and now the babies are all over the place. It was worth it for the years of few birds to now have this abundance.

Here's another baby at the feeder. Look how small it is compared to the feeder and flower.

.

 

[dragoneggs]

People forget hummers also eat small insects like gnats and mosquitoes. A few dozen hummers can really reduce the mosquito population. Sugar is for energy, but they need protein too. I haven't seen a mosquito at my house yet this year.

I didn't realize that... we don't have mosquitoes either.