I thought the hummingbirds leave in Sept. Oct and don't return until March? You are just about an hour down the road from me - you keep your hummingbirds year round? What is the best area/place in my yard to hang them? I have seen them in the neighborhood in summer but can't seem to get them in my yard.

I think there is an invisible line just north of me that seperates those who have hummers in the winter vs those in the summer. Tom, who lives in Clermont and I have been having this discussion for a couple of years. He has them when I don't except for migration times such as the fall.

My first ones showed up in late Aug. and I have had them steadily ever since. Only 1 or 2 at a time and they usually stayed a couple weeks then moved on.

Right now I have 1 or 2 male Rubys - one which has been here for at least a week, then the Rufous showed up yesterday as the cold weather came in. Rufous are not as common in this area as Rubys. I had an immature female last year that stayed from that very cold spell we had in Jan till early April. I also had one that may have been a Black Chinned. Also had a couple Rubys that hung around daily. Others here in south lakeland have also had hummers recently - one guy had 7 a couple weeks ago.

You can hang feeders at any height - I have 2 that are hanging close together from my pergola, one that is on the window here by my computer and then 2 more on the other side of my house where I can watch them from my breakfast area. They like to have trees to roost in and they also eat insects, plus nectar from flowers if there are any. I have lots of butterfly plants that they like - saw one going to the Cape Honeysuckle today and to the Red Pentas.
Also have Red Shrimp plant and firebush but may not have much left after this cold spell.

If you put out feeders, do not use the commerical nectar stuff. Make your own with a ratio of 4 parts water to 1 part sugar. I heat 4 cups water in the microwave for 5 minutes, add the sugar and stir, cool in fridge then put in feeders. You don't have to fill them all the way up if you only have a few birds. Change when water becomes cloudy and clean feeders with water and vinegar if needed. Do not use bleach.

Our birds here can become territorial - a male might like to claim a feeder for himself and chase away other males. Rufous also tend to be aggressive and chase others away. That is why I like having a feeder for each bird.

When they are relying on feeders, you can watch them visit about every 15 minutes so once you find one in your yard, you will spend hours glued to the windows watching. Its habit forming!

only thing left for the hummers is the "matchstick" ...if that makes it tonight.....

Here are some pics of the birds from this morning:

Im

Male Ruby

And my favorite

Nice photos. You must be either quick with the camera or have one of those bird cameras.

Mboston has slow birds ;-)

Ha ha Lou - but you are pretty close - it was so cold out they were probably moving slower than normal. They were all trying to get to the feeder - the hummers though you have to be quick for them - I have a Nikon 90.

Mary
Those pictures are awesome - and that cardinal should be on the cover of a magazine!

Thank you so much for sharing with us!

Susie