Good shot, Randy. Thanks for sharing.

ooooooooooooooo - gorgeous! My hummer feeder thinger broke and I had to buy a new one. Haven't got it up yet. The hummers in my neighborhood seem to like the flowers better than the sugar water.

I have seen a downy woodpecker at the bird bath, and two beautiful doves (not morning). They were very large, kind of a light tan and white, about the size of crows. Cooing and all that lovey dovey stuff. I also have the house wrens, cardinals (did you know they mate for life?), mockingbirds. One year I even saw a swallow that I know must have lost her sweet way south. Being a city dweller, I don't see the variety you guys do. Last summer, though, I saw a meadowlark in the parking garage downtown - thought that was a bit unusual. I'm from Kansas and that is the state bird. I think Oklahoma's is the scissortail. But, then, the state flower (laugh, guffaw, shriek, tear hair, and snort!) is the mistletoe. Only Oklahoma would have a parasite for a flower!

Susan

Susan,
I always hated that Oklahoma's state flower is a parasite. My only consolation was that Mistletoe was adopted before Oklahoma became a state.

They actually changed it last year though. Our official state flower is now the Oklahoma Rose. The Mistletoe is the state floral emblem.

The last few days, I've noticed a Red Headed Woodpecker on the property. He is extremely shy and wonÂt let me get very close. I didnÂt realize how beautiful they were. We have a pair of Red Bellied that hang around.

I had a large clay tray for an 18" pot turned upside down and sticking slightly over the edge of a bench in the shade house. The wrens built a nest under it before I got the bench cleared off for plants. IÂve left that space alone for now.

randy

The mistletoe represents the endurance of the early settlers and is said to have been the only thing green in winter to cover the graves. However, it is a parasite. I have always felt that Indian Blanket should represent the state. It's a 'bird world' around here. One male hummer has staked a claim inside our open woodshed and perches there to chase away intruders. We have seen several at the feeders recently. We have never found a hummer nest. They have been feeding on all the open flowers of which the pink primrose is one of the predominent ones currently. EP

Saw my very first hummer this morning. It buzzed the feeders then took off looking for flowers, I guess. Alas, I cut back the honeysuckle and trumpet vine on my trellis last fall so I could rebuild and paint it. I can smell the honeysuckle in my neighbor's yard, but mine hasn't grown back yet, so the little hummers will probably be hanging out over there more until some of my other flowers start blooming. Was awfully glad to see him, though.

OKprairie,

Glad they finally found you. I was thinking that maybe you hadn't seen any yet because they are all are hanging out at Randy's with those lovely blooming aloe veras.

The hummers at our house haven't been at the feeders much lately, but I think it is because the honeysuckles are in full bloom and the pink evening primrose (planted in one small location 3 years ago, and now scattered over 2 or 3 acres) are too.

Sometimes, though, when I am standing at the kitchen sink, they hover outside the kitchen window and watch me. (There is a feeder outside that window, but they seem more interested in what is going on inside.) Wonder what they are thinking?

Dawn

Yep. I think the little guy I saw this morning was just zipping by to say, "Hi. Gotta go."

Woe is me!!! I haven't had one hummer at my place yet! Last summer, there were at least 3. I've planted alot of "hummer" plants and have a feeder out, but to no avail. Just can't figure out why they're not around here.

Hi Linda!

I'm wondering if it has been cooler/cloudier than usual in your part of the state? In years where we have that kind of weather, I sometimes won't see hummers very often until mid-June.

One thing I do that seems to get their attention is I add just a couple of drops of orange extract (found in the spice section of the grocery store) to a batch of nectar. It seems to help attract them.

Also, we built a large garage/barn last summer (30 feet deep by 40 feet wide) and painted it red. Every hummer in Oklahoma flies down to check out that red barn! We didn't paint it red for the purpose of attracting hummers, but it is a nice bonus. So, if you have a little shed in your yard that needs painting.....

Good luck attracting hummers. I bet they will show up any time now.

Dawn

Thanks Dawn...I don't have a red barn, but I have alot of red flowers that have been blooming for several weeks. The trumpet vines are also blooming now and I know the hummers love them. And there seems to be plenty of tiny insects flying around the plants.

I live in OKC and we haven't had much rain this year. Don't know if that's a factor or not. There are more grackles and starlings around here than ever. They are very aggressive and pretty much take over. Maybe they have driven the hummers away. Linda

Linda:

My trumpet creeper and American crossvine and coral honeysuckle are all blooming right now and would usually have tons of hummers, but I've only seen a couple instead of the usual large crowds.

I forgot to tell you the best way to attract hummers, based on my experience.

While in the kitchen looking out the window at the hummingbird feeder, decide that right now would be a good time to take it down, clean it and refill it with fresh hummingbird nectar.

Once you're back inside the kitchen, take the feeder apart and begin washing it.

At this exact moment, if you look out the window, you should see a hummer or two flying around where the feeder "used to be", looking confused and hungry.

It happens every time!

Dawn

I love to stand among my trumpet vine and have the hummers buzz around me. It's as if they have no fear when I am in the midst of those plants.

Oh-and I agree about taking the feeder down and THEN having the hummers come. It does work! *lol*

~Heidi (who glances at the clock noting it is "Almost" time to start work)

ONe of only twice I've seen them this year was one morning when I was sitting on the deck in a bright red house dress. The little guy hovered around for the longest time, trying to figure it out.

I have a shirt that has a whiteish-blue background with red/pink poppies in the foreground. I can't even wear it outside because the hummers hover around it in the same way! If I stand really still they will get so close that I am sure they are going to try to get nectar out of one of the flowers on that shirt!

And, I'm still seeing hummers only a little here and there--not in the larger quantities we usually see. Guess it is just part of this crazy year.

However, the purple martins are doing very well--this morning the babies were learning to fly, from the martin house to the electic line, and back again, over and over. Sometimes a hummer will perch on the line and watch them "practice" flying. It's fun to watch them all.

Dawn

Hello everyone !! I'm new to this but saw this forum about hummers and thought I would tell you I have about 8 right now. I had about 15 or more a few weeks ago and they left for some reason and are slowly making their return. Last year I had four feeders and had about 25 - 30 hummers. It was amazing. They would perch on my fence and wait,often impatiently I must say, for their turn at the feeders. I was filling them twice a day sometimes. It was a sight to see. I hope I have that many this year but I'm beginning to doubt it.

Have a great day !!

Brenda

Brenda...I am sooo jealous. This is my second year to be hooked on hummingbirds. I have many hummer plants blooming but have yet to see one this year! I live in OKC and wonder if they normally arrive here late. I have a friend who lives in a rural area about 30-40 miles from here and she has lots of hummers. Linda

Hi Brenda & welcome to the forum! For some reason, our early hummers disappeared for a while but then came back too. It is a strange year.

Linda, You can track the migration of the hummingbirds throughout North American using the maps at hummingbirds.net, which is a great website. I've linked it below. The dates are fairly accurate, although some years I have hummers much later than the reported tracking dates for southern Oklahoma.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: hummingbird map

Ok..how do I keep the hoards of ants off of my hummer feeder???????? I got a new one that doesn't have an ant moat now it's the 24 hr ant buffet. Very irritating.
Leaper

Leaper,

I bought this one, but you can make them yourself. You can take a plastic container that a roll of 35mm film comes in and drill a very small hole through the bottom of it. Run the wire you will hang your feeder with through that hole with the container turned up. Then smear the inside of the container with petroleum jelly. Works great!

Thanks Randy..I'll do that today..
Leaper

Leaper & Randy,

If you can't find a film cannister, I've seen the same thing done with the lid from an aerosol can.

Also, some people put petroleum jelly on the wire hanger and swear it keeps ants off. I've never tried it.

Dawn

Dawn

Make sure to coat all of the wire if you do that. I've had ants make a chain of bodies over 4"inches long to hang down past the pj to get to the feeder. The canister seems to deter that.

randy

Hey Randy,

The one (and only) place on my property that I don't ants this year is on/in the hummingbird feeders, and I can't explain why, but I hope it lasts. We just treated the yard for fire ants yesterday. I hope it works. They are everywhere I step. I think I'll make the little film cannister hangers, though, as the ants are bound to find the feeders sooner or later.

My worst fire ant experience? When my now 21-year-old son was 5 years old, Fort Worth was hit by a massive thunderstorm with high winds, high rainfall and lots of hail. The playground at the private school where he attended kindergarten was under water--about 6" of water, and full of downed trees and tree branches. The storm hit on a Friday afternoon, so a lot of us parents spent Saturday helping the rather elderly owner of the small private school clean up the playground area.

As we worked, we encountered floating balls of fire ants, sized from walnut-sized to baseball-sized. I don't know where they came from---the whole area was flooded--but we hadn't seen any on the playground before this. These balls were solid ants to the core, in a continue writhing, crawling mass. I understand they can live for weeks this way. It was horrible! I've never seen anything like it since, but then I haven't seen much flooding either.

Tonight I had a sprinkler going on the corn patch for a little while and the hummers were flying through the water, either bathing or playing. Too cute!

Dawn

Thanks Okie Dawn and Linda 313 for the welcome. I have really enjoyed reading everyone's comments on here. It's nice to have a site like this with other Oklahomans who are doing the same things. I think I spoke too soon about my hummers though because I haven't seem many these past few days. I put up another feeder so maybe I'll lure them back. We'll see. I forgot to say that I live in SE Oklahoma and I'm new to gardening but I love it. I'm an addict. I'm not too knowledgeable about soil and things like that but I know I'll learn.

Take care,

Brenda

Thanks for the tip, Randy. I 'm plagued with ants on my feeders, too, and just lost the little plastic feeder tip from one because I was trying to flick ants off (useless, I know.) It went flying into the pond, so I'm going to have to fish it out. I'll try the vaseline moat.

I've seen a hummingbird come to my rose of sharon for the past few years so I bought a feeder this year. Haven't put it up yet so I will definately make an ant trap for it. I'm looking forward to seeing more of him.

Does anyone in OKC have hummingbirds? I STILL haven't seen any! And it's certainly not for lack of their favorite plants or a feeder. I have plenty of both.

I started out with one returning from 2004. Then I saw 2(both males) in May, now with my feeders full of fresh
water for them I've seen no action for weeks.
I still change the water to make sure it's fresh but they've gone somewhere! No one else in my neighborhood has any hummers now either.
Connie in Shawnee

Connie,

That is exactly what most of us have experienced this year! The hummers we saw initially have, for the most part, disappeared, and no one is exactly sure why. I am almost positive the drought has something to do with it. I miss those hummers and hope they will come back from wherever they are hiding! We have seen the same thing with most butterflies too!

Dawn

I am relieved to know that no one is hogging all the hummers!!!!! Actually, I am just relived to know that every one else is hummerless. Maybe that means when they do come back they will stop by my place too!!!!
I actually did see one. I was cleaning out my garage about a month ago and one flew in and hung there for a few seconds and then was gone.... Thanks everyone for all the feed back! Be sure and let me know if you get them back!!!!

Well, I have one little guy that visits late in the afternoon. Last year there were two who were quite aggressive and would get right in my face sometimes. This one I only see if I'm watching from inside. I'm in Stillwater.

A few of mine have started to come back. I've got 3 feeders hanging and have counted about 10 I think. They go so fast it is hard to count LOL . I have some cool pics but don't know how to post them. My daughter and I took turns standing by the feeders and got some really great up close pics. Usually they try to eat out of the feeders while I'm filling them. Of course no one is around to see that but me LOL !!
Someone mentioned the drought thing and it sure is dry here next to McAlester. My thermometer read 104 in the shade on my porch. YIKES !! No wonder the hummers don't want to hang around it's too hot.

Brenda

Goodness everyone, I thought I was the only one hummerless!
In the Spring I had a feeder up on the front porch to be out of the sun when afternoon rolls around. I think I'll move the one I have up there and see what happens.
So sorry everyone has few hummers this time of year.
I'm sure the lack of rain has them going elsewhere.
Connie in Shawnee

We got .63 of rain yesterday here. I changed the feeder location to the front porch and after that little bit of rain, I saw 2 male hummers at the feeder.
I don't know what's going on now..LOL.
Here one day, gone the next..I was just glad to see them yesterday.
Connie in Shawnee

Hummers also depend on insects for food supply and the natural nectar of the flowers . We think of the feeders as 'junk food' and they feed at feeders more in the morning and evening. Later in the summmer they will be swarming in the gardens getting ready for the flight south. We have been watching them doing 'tricks'. They will fly straight up vertically, up and down like a yo yo over a shrub for 4 or 5 times. Some kine of ritual? It is interesting to watch them. We never have found a nest but we will notice a bird at a feeder in one instance and soaring over a distant tree top in another instance. We wonder how far their range of feeding extends over one area. It's interesting to read all the input. The red annual salvia self sows and is up and blooming now, which seems to be the most attractive nectar plant for summer. Later, they also appreciate the luecantha (Mexican bush sage) and we also have plenty of blue bedder salvia. EP

Our local hummers have been back the last couple of days, both around the feeders and around all the different flowers we've planted for them.

Our hummers tend to nest in smaller understory trees in our wooded area. I've never seen the nests, but I know when I've gotten too close because a hummer will fly down out of the tree and fly in circles around my head, perhaps in an effort to chase me away from "their" tree.

Our red-flowered Texas hummingbird sage has been blooming for a week or two now, and we also have lots of blue bedder salvia, among other things. Our hummingbirds like to sit on the electric line and "watch" me work in the garden. They also like to sit near the purple martin birdhouses and watch the purple martins, especially when the young birds are learning to fly.

Dawn

Well folks, I still haven't had any hummers. My friend who lives in the Choctaw area has several but not as many as last summer. I'm beginning to think they don't like OKC this summer. Maybe I'll get some Fall migrants. Linda

I haven't had any hummers and I have Mimosa trees in full bloom, red petunias in hanging planter, and the evil trumpet vines are all blooming. Also did not have woodpeckers nest in the maple tree this year, mayby they knew something I didn't cause that big limb came down in an earlier storm, in June. (Half the tree) I have video of the babies from about five years ago. So was surprised that they aren't here this year, they had used it for more years than I can remember.

Most of us only see hummers when they visit our feeders or flowers, but someone found a nest and took pictures from egg to fledging stages. Really cool. I don't know who or where this was--my cousin sent me the link.

Bertha

Here is a link that might be useful: Hummingbird Family

My little RT guy has been hiding from me. How do I know?
Because I saw HIM yesterday. He was sitting in a bush
when I looked him right in the eyes....
I swear he grinned!!
Saw him again this morning, still grinning at me.
Connie in Shawnee

We haven't had any until this morning, and he was a very friendly fellow.

I thought a really big dragon fly had buzzed by me, but when I turned around, I was face-to-face with this little red-headed fellow with a long beak and wings going so fast they were just a blur. Couldn't have been more than a foot from my face. Startled me just a bit and I didn't identify it immediately. By the time I realized what it was, he backed up and buzzed off. WOW! I had never been up close to one like that--all the pictures you see don't do them justice, but I guess ya'll know that.

Guess we'll put the feeders up and see if any of them are hanging around.

I'm really beginning to like this being outdoors more thing.

Well, all, I don't think it is the lack of rain, Kay County has had a bunch this July. One storm dumped just under 4 in. I think it might have been the dangerous weather here. 100mph winds. I don't have the woodpeckers this year either, the old maple tree, that they usually nest in, lost two big limbs, one last year, one a few weeks ago. Woodpeckers have used that tree for about 20 years. They must have known something we didn't. Buuuuut I did see a hummer in my Mimosa tree day before yesterday, made me so happy. First one this year. Also haven't seen many Cardinals either. Oh, the butterflies, have only seen white ones and have lots of flowers for both butterflies and hummers. Must tell everyone that the birdhouse that I got at the herb festival in Jenks, south of Tulsa,last year, had baby finches in it this year. Anyway, I think they were finches, tiny little dark colored birds. Very fussy parents while I was filling the finch feeder next to the birdhouse. So funny.

Come to think of it, I haven't seen woodpeckers this year either. I do have lots of cardinals, though, and more titmice than last year. I also have a wren nest in one of my porch planters. Mama wren was really fussing at me as I tried to water this weekend. I tried to be gentle.

FINALLY! One tiny, tiny little hummer at my feeder. I saw him/her on Friday, multiple times, fillin up! I have worked the last three days, 12hours, so I am anxious to watch tomorrow and see if my little hummer hasn't forgotten me!!!!

The hummers are very active in the gardens now. The immature male rubythroats have a small red mark in center of throat. We use the Best One feeders which have a continual perch around the base of the feeder. A few days ago when I went out to check the feeders I found an immature male wedged in between the perch and the base. I placed my finger underneath and lifted gently to free it. It went flying off with another hummer that had been perched nearby in shrub. Had never seen anything like that happen before. We have 3 kinds of salvia in bloom including the 'wild' red, blue bedder, and Mexican bush sage. The hummers seem to investigate all the flowers but seem to prefer the red salvia. EP

Hi All.

EP, the hummers in our area love our red salvia as well. In fact, they rarely visit the feeders, and I get so much satisfaction from their visits to the flowers.

For those of you not familiar with the wild red salvia, it's a parent of the bright red salvia bedding plant that's so common in Oklahoma. It's taller, rangier, and freely reseeds from year to year. Also blooms a little later, but it seems to bloom just when the hummingbirds are tanking up for their migration. IMHO, a very fine plant.

From my office window, I can watch them darting around and it brings so much joy to my day. Always a little sad when October comes...

Carol

We are still enjoying the hummers. There appears to be a family including at least one male and several female and immatures. The luecantha (Mexican bush sage) is blooming now but we also observe them feeding at the small florets of the centers of the zinnias and they seem attracted to all nectar flowers. They zoom about in early morning, flying around in wide circles and with the up and down motions. We feel they might be catching insects out of the air. Sometimes they will be zooming up and down in pairs. They will feed for awhile and then fly up high into the tree tops or across the neighborhood. We usually observe them here until mid October. EP

I still have one, maybe two. My cypress vine finally bloomed, so my little lady is concentrating on that and not visiting the feeders as much. She checks out everything - zinnias, morning glories, even the regular bird feeder.

The hummers are enjoying my Autumn Joy sedum, Texas Star and double pink hibiscus. And I am enjoying watching them. Also have all kinds of butterflys now. Two monarchs were dancing in front of me while I mowed this afternoon. Sure made a hot messy job a lot easier.