There are plenty of hummers in Miami, just at a different time of the year than the ones in Central Florida. I believe (and I learned this here in the group) they get to your area in October or so and stay through the winter. It is the opposite in central Florida. And though the ruby-throated hummer is the "normal" one nesting east of the Mississippi, a few other species are seen from time to time in the main part of the state, but even more "rare" ones are spotted in south Florida. So YOU could get even more varieties than we do here. Get that hummingbird garden going! "If you plant it, they will come!" Eventually! Tony, the fermented nectar really could make them tipsy, but mostly, it makes them sick, and they won't come back to that feeder again. (Assuming it doesn't kill them.) Hummers DO eat insects, as well as nectar, especially during the nesting season. I've seen them feeding in oak trees, and flying back to their nests, where they feed their young tiny bugs and spiders. If you suspect you have a nesting hummer, watch closely for it. The ruby-throateds build lichen covered nests about the size and shape of a marshmallow, and lay two eggs the size of very small jelly beans. They really aren't much larger than the little white lizard eggs you findin flower pots. When the female sits on the nest, her beak hangs over one side and her tail hangs over the other. The little nest is glued directly onto a branch and is hard to see, unless you spot the female flying to it. They are such fun to watch! I haven't had any this year (or at least haven't spotted any) so I'm planning to add a lot more good plants for them. My coral honeysuckle is blooming well, and I'm hoping it will soon have them coming. Good luck, all you hummer lovers! Marcia

Your critics are wrong. The books written by real experts say that even in Alaska and Minnesota and Maine you can leave hummingbird feeders out as long as you want and the birds will still leave when they need to. If not wouldn't they all just stick around up north indefinitely and starve to death when the first frost killed the flowers? If you need something in writing to back you up, try Enjoying Hummingbirds More by Nancy Newfield or the Peterson Guide to Hummingbirds by Sherri Williamson. They're both bonafide hummingbird experts that post on other forums. And maybe the Audubon Society can recommend a hummingbird expert who can give a talk to your garden club about hummingbird myths. Those people could use some straightening out. Here are a couple of links I found with Google: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/News/HummingbirdsInWinter.htm "During the last FeederWatch season, a number of CostaÂs and Black-chinned hummingbirds wintered in the Phoenix area and points south, and AnnaÂs Hummingbirds were frequently seen across the state." http://www.sabo.org/hbfaqs.htm#migrate "If you live along the Gulf or Pacific coasts or in the desert Southwest, you may have hummingbirds visiting your yard all year long." I also checked the Audubon Christmas Bird Count website and on the latest count in Phoenix on December 19, 2006 they counted 23 Anna's and 2 Costa's. And I'll bet most of them were seen around feeders.

I found a solution that has kept my feeders from dripping and attracting yellow jackets and other unwanted pests. This only works for Humzinger-style feeders (not the standard large flower, smaller feeders.) I bought pipe sealant in the hardware section of my grocery store; pipe sealant is non-toxic. I also bought a roll of plumber's tape--the really thin tape used to help pipes seal up. First I cleaned everything really well. Then popped out all of the flowers and slathered a bunch of I then slathered the pipe sealant around where the flowers go in--you want to use a really good amount--and pushed them back in. I then did the same where the top met the bottom "bowl". Next, I wrapped a generous amount of the plumber's tape around that same place to really seal it up. The pipe sealant comes in little tubes and is kind of like working with toothpaste and putty mixed together. (Note: It doesn't fully dry up. It's not supposed to.) The end result is somewhat ugly with the white tape and the white goop around the flowers, but it sufficiently not only stopped the yellow jackets from coming (they tried and tried, but finally stopped.) You will have to replace the tape and pipe sealant now and then around the base, as it expands and contracts with the day heating up and cooling off--and especially so if it's in direct sunlight like mine are. I have a lot of hummingbirds who come my way all summer and all winter (we have Anna's Hummingbirds here in Oregon, and they don't migrate), and they've been very happy about not having the yellow jackets scare them off in the warmer months.

They stay through winter here too, of course we don't have nearly your cold and when we do, it lasts just a few days. I mix the sugar water ratio stronger temporarily, the more sugar, the slower it freezes. Sugar water, 1 part sugar to 3 or even 2 1/2 parts water, will stay liquid and usable to the hummers for a good 12 hours or so at temps just below freezing. I have more than one feeder, and during an unusual freeze like we had last winter where daytime temps stayed well below freezing, I rotated them, bringing one in to the laundry room to thaw while the other was being used. For those nights in the 'teens'....I would bring them in after dark, DH would return them about an hour before daylight. And we did that both Fri and Sat night here this last weekend. There are some more ideas here - my feeders are the saucer style and don't lend themselves to adapting as suggested though.... Here is a link that might be useful: Frozen nectar