How many hummers do you see?This has been the typical dinner time entertainment lately, watching the hummers go through about 9 ounces of nectar in about 90 minutes. This has been going on for a couple of weeks. I believe they are all Anna's hummingbirds. There was one Allen's hanging around for a few days but he seems to have moved on to a less crowded neighborhood (I suppose). What you can't see in the photo are the birds sitting on the fence off to the sides.
I have 4 feeders going now. One is dominated by one hummer and only needs to be half filled once a day. Another one gets filled at dinner and is empty by mid morning to noon the next day. The one in the photo was being emptied in one evening, so I put a second one up a couple of feet away and the two of them last through breakfast, barely. Once the feeders are empty they stay that way until the evening feeding. I think the hummers are waiting close by since the feeding starts almost immediately once I fill the feeders in the evening. It is impossible to count all the birds, but I think I'm feeding at least 20 of them, maybe more.
So lovely with all those beutiful birds.
ReplyDeleteI live in Sweden and Hummings are so exotic for me.
Nice blog, ill be back again soon.
Have e nice day!!!
The hummingbirds are so pretty. I remember seeing them in Canada and couldn't believe they migrated so far north!
ReplyDeleteYou're so lucky to have them in your garden!
Celia
Hi Livsnjutaren, thanks for stopping by and commenting. I'm glad you liked the hummers (and my blog). :)
ReplyDeleteCelia, do you remember how feisty the little guys are? That's what I really love about them. Their aerial acrobatics are so amazing.
Oh my gosh, my husband would go nuts! He has 5 feeders in our tiny back yard and one of them is for hummers. We have a male who guards it quite a bit so see only modest action. I recently read than when you get multiple hummers on the same feeder like that, it is because it is several mothers and their young - the males won't mess with them.
ReplyDeleteSo much fun. I remember when I realized that they were incredibly ferocious. Just thankful they aren't the size of, say, condors.
ReplyDeletehow much does it cost you now Michelle? i buy the syrup at walmart and latest price was $3.88 for conc. that makes 64 oz. i could have sworn the price was just 1.98 about 6 months ago...
ReplyDeleteWow that is a lot of hummers. I planted bee balm in my garden this year in hopes of attracting them.
ReplyDeleteSusan, my husband has claimed the finch feeder as his own and gets a kick out of seeing a dozen or more finches clinging to it. The hummer feeders (mine) were dominated early on by a couple of males. After the first breeding season one of them became the communal feeder. And I've noticed that after 3 seasons the communal feeder is more crowded than ever. I did notice that when the "action" started a few weeks ago that it seemed to be all juveniles and females at the communal feeder, so what you read must be true. Some of the young males are getting their bright throats and heads now.
ReplyDeleteStefaneener, condor sized hummers! Can you imagine the sound they would make? Scary thought.
Anonymous, I never use the concentrate. I buy plain white sugar at Costco (10 lb bags) and simply dissolve 1 part sugar in 5 parts water straight from the tap. Hummers simply use nectar for the calories, they eat insects for nutrition. They also visit all the nectar producing flowers in my garden.
Daphne, have they visited the bee balm? The hummers like the penstemon and lion's mane flowers in my garden. They also like the lemon blossoms, and some of the succulents. Oh, and the nasturtiums.