The hummingbird found the feeder

6 years ago

I hadn't seen my little guy around much, so I put up a cheap feeder. I saw the water going down, but never saw the hummingbird. It's hung right outside my window, and it gets pretty hot there in the afternoon, but yesterday evening, I saw him drinking from it. He didn't drink long, but I guess he got his fill. Now I know he comes in the early evening, I'll be looking for him and try to get a picture. I wonder if he comes in the early morning too? He does love my purple showers when they're blooming. He feeds at the coral honeysuckle at the back of the property, but for the life of me, I can't get a cutting of that to root, so there is none up here.

I wonder if he's noticed the morning glories yet. I don't get a ton of blooms, but they are blooming every day now. I know he misses the hibiscus. He fed on those every morning.

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Comments (5)

dirtygardener
Original Author
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
I think I must have a whole family of hummers, because this feeder has been a busy place. I tried going outside to get a picture, but they won't come when I'm there. They are a thirsty bunch, which would make sense if they have babies. Oh, wouldn't it be lovely to have a whole flock of them? I'm going to go buy and hang more feeders, so they will all have their own.

These are so tiny! Not at all like my fat ruby-throated hummingbirds in SC. They look malnourished, so hopefully, the feeder will help fatten them up.
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sharon2079
6 years ago
I am so excited for you that you have a hummingbird..... I want to get them here in South Florida (Palm Beach County)..... I don't think we get them until October.. At least that is what I am told. Have been trying to get a few plants that I thought they might like to nectar at. Do you have any special plants they like too, or just your feeder? Good luck with your little guys.
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Thanks for the compliments. The picture was taken with a Kodak C813 which is a small point and shoot type camera. I had it set on close-up rather than the zoom because I was right next to him and he had no interest in me - all attention was on that nectar. Susan, if I have any wild cherry or tulip trees nearby, I am not aware of it. I live on 350 acres and there are plenty of trees around, so there could be some cherry and tulip trees, but I have never identified any. I just planted two small bush cherries in big plastic tubs this spring, but they are only about a foot tall. I will check into the Wild Cherry and see if I already have some on the ranch or if I can get some to put in my yard. I would love to watch caterpillars grow up and become beautiful butterflies like this guy. Just before I posted, I had read one of your posts stating that you had butterflies on your hummingbird feeders. Thanks for letting me share this with you. Ms. Faith
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When photographing hummingbirds, I've found that the click of the camera, and/or the flash can attract them, particularly the dominant hummingbird at that specific feeder. My theory is that because he associates the flash with the the appearance of other birds at the feeder, he learns to show up to defend it when there's a flash. Since he's there, he takes a drink before leaving. Because I've mainly observed this at Madera Canyon in the spring, it was pretty easy to figure this out because it was generally the same species bird that showed up after a 'boredom' flash I would flash if I had not had any birds for a while. Sometimes, the feeder would be primarily 'owned' by a broadbill, at other times/locations/years it might be a magnificent. Once accustomed to the flash, the birds aren't usually startled even though my flashes are quite close. (1 or 2 feet from feeder.) A high pitched whistle might produce a similar territorial response. I'd be tempted to try a dog whistle and see if they react quite well to that. Visit my link to www.gregscott.com to see my very high resolution hummingbird photos. They're not all high resolution, but most of the recent ones (taken in the spring) are quite high in resolution. Here is a link that might be useful: See my high resolution photos here.
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I love hummingbirds! I put my first feeder up sometime in April & within an hour already had a hummer there eating. I have 4 feeders out & any time of the day you can go out & at least 2 or 3 are at each feeder; at sunrise & sunset the feeders are packed w/ at least 5-7 or more hovering around each feeder waiting their turn! I have to refill my feeders every 2-3 days so my "nectar" doesn't have a chance to go bad. I will however disagree w/ some of the given advice. I'm not saying I'm right, but my hummingbirds like what I do. I make up a 3 1/2 qt. juice container of "nectar" at a time. I put 2 cups of sugar in 1 quart of water (so 7 cups to my 3 1/2 qt. container)... I've read some agruments about this on here, but again, my HB's seem to like it & keep coming back. I never boil the water, I mix the sugar w/ cold water & shake the container vigorously before filling each feeder. Mine is stored in the fridge & doesn't last more than a week. I don't notice any difference between warm/cold feeders when I put them out, so they will drink the cold nectar (I've read where some ppl warm it up before putting it in the feeder). What you do is up to you, I just wanted to add my 2 cents. Good luck & hope you have many HB's come your way! :) ~Shannon
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Why You Should NEVER Use Honey: A honey water solution served up in hummingbird feeders can quickly become toxic and deadly. Honey rapidly ferments and also cultures a deadly bacterium. Contrary to popular belief, honey is not "more natural" than the cane sugar that is sold as white sugar. Honey has been chemically altered by honey bees: it is flower nectar and whatever ever else the honey bee ingested, digested, and spit back out again. Honey is nothing like the sucrose found in flower nectar and white sugar. Again, plain white table sugar dissolved in water in a four-to-one solution is about as close to real flower nectar as you can get. Feeder and Feeding Facts ALG and GARDEN WEB. Please reference these sources if you use the above information as presented here in any form or media other than for personal, individual use.
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Pea
6 years ago
There are year rounders in s.w. Florida but the numbers increase in the fall and winter. I keep trying to find coral porterweed as they loved that bush but it parished during the rebuild after hurricane charley and i have never seen it in the stores. I got it at an inperson plant trade arranged on gardenweb. Would love to attend another one if anyone arranges one in the s.w. Florida area. Or if anyone sees the coral porterweed somewhere let me now. I have the purple one and the butterflies like it but the coral one was a hummer attractor.
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dirtygardener
Original Author
6 years ago
Sharon, I have four o'clocks that they love, but those aren't blooming well right now. They also love the brugmansias (angel trumpets) when they're blooming, and the purple showers. Nothing blooms well here in the summer, because it's so hot, so the feeder makes sure they don't starve.

I'm going to order a feeder that they can actually sit on. This one doesn't allow them to sit and drink. I need a larger feeder where they can all sit, because they're drinking all day long now, and I've seen at least two. I know I have a pair, so babies will soon need to drink.
dirtygardener
Original Author
6 years ago
I don't think these are ruby-throated hummingbirds. I don't see any red or green. They may be black-chinned hummingbirds, from pictures I've seen.
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The hummingbird found the feeder

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The hummingbird found the feeder

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sharon2079

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