Counting hummingbirds

kossetx · Aug 15, 2006

Goliedad, To aswer your question, well, there really is no solution. Perky-pet.com has a feeder that has a "bee guard", and it works OK. I also use something called a "Fatel Funnel" wich attracts bees wasps and hornets. It gets rid of a lot of yellow jackets, but not many red wasps. I got that at HFT. I constantly look for a way to get rid of those mean red wasps. MP

vmarc · Aug 15, 2006

We're having visits from an insect that looks and acts like a hummer.I think it's called a hummingbird moth.It's almost as fun to watch as a real hummer.

avorancher · Aug 16, 2006

We have three 32oz feeders and one 48oz feeder, all about 10 feet from each other. If one male tries to dominate, the others just use the other feeders until he leaves. I would be shocked to look out the window and not see half-dozen or so at any given time. I use two other 32oz feeders to rotate while I clean and fill the primary ones. My wife wants me to hang more feeders, but I think we have plenty of hummers already!

Bees? We have plenty of other hummingbird flowers in the same area, and the bees prefer lavender and Mexican Heather to the feeders. The Hummers do respect the bees however and will move out of the way for them.

When I fill the feeders each morning, Hummers will get quite close to me and if I move slowly, some will perch on my finger and drink from the feeder. Sometimes they buzz right in front of my face to check me out...I used to wear sunglasses because I was afraid they would poke me in the eye before I could react, but I've also gotten used to them now.

oliver28472 · Aug 16, 2006

I have four feeders at home and one on a window suction cup at the office. I think we have had more this year due to the juice getting gone. Had to catch one in the garage the other day. He couldn't get out by himself and kept bouncing off the screen. I got a ladder and caught him in my hand. He got away fine. Sister had one get caught and killed in a garden spider web a few years ago. She didn't have a problem with the spider till then.

JRobyn · Aug 16, 2006

FIL in central TN goes through about 3/4 gal of nectar per day at his house, and is now also going through almost 1/2 gal at "the farm". He's been feeding at the house for many years, but only started at the farm this year, so we're surprised to have so many there so soon. We kid him about being "birdman". It seems that it takes a few years of continued feeding to get really large populations.