Hummingbirds, no not the fish locator type

[BWR1953]

Looks like my hummer took off for winter..... He turned into a snowbird...

Interesting. We haven't seen our hummers for 3 days now. They must be in Miami or Key West.

 

[gm280]

WIMUSKY and BWR1953, if your birds have already departed, your temps must be getting low. Ours seem to stick around 'til about late fall. Usually after the first or second frost. I will say that some of them around that time are not the usual birds but some stopping over from up north. I say that because we actually get use to the patterns we see on the birds and lots of time notice the same ones over and over. But then different pattern birds show up and I am assuming they are birds traveling from the north to the gulf area.

I read where the typical hummingbird can fly about 30 to 35 MPH. And they cross the Gulf Of Mexico yearly for the winter migration. That trip is over 500 miles and those bird make it in one flight with no place to land other then maybe an oil rig platform or something like that. So some cross it in one long flight. That is amazing to me. Even if they flew straight at max speed that is over 14 hours. I bet those wing joints are sore the next day...or week.

 

[BWR1953]

I don't know what's caused our hummers to head out, but it's definitely not low temps. Still in the upper 80s here. Maybe the shortening daylight hours?

 

[MTboatguy]

Looks like my hummer took off for winter..... He turned into a snowbird...

Yup, mine have been gone for almost 2 weeks now, normally when they leave this early means a not so good winter on the way.

 

[gm280]

They do respond to the shorter days, but ours are still feeding like crazy. Especially early in the morning, right at sunset and always if any type storm is coming in. They start very early in the morning well before sunrise. But they cease feeding right at sunset with lots of light to feed yet. I have no idea why but they do the same thing every evening. I can explain yours leaving out early. Did they do that in years pass?

 

[MTboatguy]

They do respond to the shorter days, but ours are still feeding like crazy. Especially early in the morning, right at sunset and always if any type storm is coming in. They start very early in the morning well before sunrise. But they cease feeding right at sunset with lots of light to feed yet. I have no idea why but they do the same thing every evening. I can explain yours leaving out early. Did they do that in years pass?

They have never left this early, so I am wondering what is going on, but friends I have talked to, said they no longer have any coming to the feeders either.

 

[gm280]

I just took this video of the birds we have. This goes on all day long.



Not sure if did this correct. It is a little overcast and being shot through the window so ...

 

[bassman284]

I can't imagine that kind of action. I have two feeders and I split a cup and a half of syrup between them. I clean them out every 4 or 5 days and there's still some left. I'm getting a lot more action the past 3 weeks or so. Earlier in the summer I would see almost no drop in syrup level after that amount of time.

I put out the second feeder this year hoping it would resolve some disputes but NOOOOOO! If 2 hummingbirds show up at the same time they get into a helluva fight and neither one eats. Grumpy little brutes.

 

[gm280]

I can't imagine that kind of action. I have two feeders and I split a cup and a half of syrup between them. I clean them out every 4 or 5 days and there's still some left. I'm getting a lot more action the past 3 weeks or so. Earlier in the summer I would see almost no drop in syrup level after that amount of time.

I put out the second feeder this year hoping it would resolve some disputes but NOOOOOO! If 2 hummingbirds show up at the same time they get into a helluva fight and neither one eats. Grumpy little brutes.

bassman, keep the feeders up until you don't see any birds for about a week or more. The reason is some bird migrate from your north position and will stop by for some food on their way across the gulf of Mexico. And depending where you live, they can stop on the travel for a refill and gain some stamina.

I have to say the later part of this past week the feeding as slowed up a little. They are still here, but not as many. Seems some of them may have taken off already. Usually the males move out first then the females, And that is also how they arrive as well.

As for fighting, there is no way you can put up enough feeders for them to stop that. It is part of their world. And they do fight furiously too. I've watched them peak each other in the head with their beaks. Apparently they don't hurt each other, but they certainly fight and make a high pitch squealing /chirping sound as well.

Also, they will remember your feeders for next year. Those birds will come back and bring others. So watch next spring for more of them.

 

[WIMUSKY]

Mine are gone. Geese are leaving too.....

 

[bassman284]

Yeah, I've been feeding them for several years and always keep the feeder going until about the end of October. This is the first year I tried having two feeders and about all I accomplished was having an extra feeder to clean. No biggie. I have one perch feeder and one hover feeder so it's two different kinds of entertainment. Usually one bird at a time shows up and will drink from both feeders - hover for awhile then go over to the perch and rest and really tank up.

BTW I'm in east central Iowa near I-80. I have a feeling most of them go farther north for the summer.

 

[gm280]

Mine are gone. Geese are leaving too.....

WIMUSKY, I am not surprised to hear yours are gone. You live so far north they probably left a while ago. As for geese, seem we have geese that stay here year round. They showed up many years back and never left again. And I mean lots of them. Every water spot, pond, and lake around the city has lots of geese. Some times it looks like the have take over water ways. And the don't leave. They do make a huge mess too!

bassman, if you continue feeding them, you will get lots more. The wife and I were talking about how many probably were hatched here in our yard that now make this they home during the early spring to mid to late fall. And they have young ones and the cycle continues now. You've seen the videos. We have more birds then we can count anymore. But we like them as well. :thumb:

 

[BWR1953]

An update on our hummers...

The 3 that we'd had before are long gone. Then about 10 days ago a single young male showed up for several days. He was followed by a female, then another. He chased both of them away, then left a couple days later. Didn't see any replacements for several days, then a single young female showed up and has been around for about 5 days. Haven't seen her today but I haven't been as focused on the little guys today.

So apparently the migration is on.

 

[WIMUSKY]

10 days ago approx here too. No place for the geese to stay, everything freezes.....

 

[gm280]

An update on our hummers...

The 3 that we'd had before are long gone. Then about 10 days ago a single young male showed up for several days. He was followed by a female, then another. He chased both of them away, then left a couple days later. Didn't see any replacements for several days, then a single young female showed up and has been around for about 5 days. Haven't seen her today but I haven't been as focused on the little guys today.

So apparently the migration is on.

Yes that shows the migration is on. When you see individual ones show up, they are making a stop over for some additional food for a few days before traveling on. Neat you posted that info and sightings. :thumb:

 

[MTboatguy]

I haven't seen one for a couple of weeks now, both feeders are still up and nothing but yellow jackets coming to them now and even they are starting to get sparse.

I have had as many as 5 feeders up and it still don't stop the fighting! . One the funny things that happen, Is I have a large 32 ounce feeder in the front picture window in the living room and then we have two double hung windows on the end of the house and if you look through the side window you can see the feeder in the front window, well low and behold, so can the hummers, so they sit on the side widow feeder and watch the front window feeder and if one comes in, the one of the said window will zip around and chase it off!

Some of them have been coming here for years and know exactly where to sit, so they can see as many of the feeders as possible, it reminds of the blitz being on when they hit their peak in the summer, it is all out war for a while!

There are some days, that the front window feeder reminds me of the air to air combat scene in the movie Top Gun!

 

[gm280]

I haven't seen one for a couple of weeks now, both feeders are still up and nothing but yellow jackets coming to them now and even they are starting to get sparse.

I have had as many as 5 feeders up and it still don't stop the fighting! . One the funny things that happen, Is I have a large 32 ounce feeder in the front picture window in the living room and then we have two double hung windows on the end of the house and if you look through the side window you can see the feeder in the front window, well low and behold, so can the hummers, so they sit on the side widow feeder and watch the front window feeder and if one comes in, the one of the said window will zip around and chase it off!

Some of them have been coming here for years and know exactly where to sit, so they can see as many of the feeders as possible, it reminds of the blitz being on when they hit their peak in the summer, it is all out war for a while!

There are some days, that the front window feeder reminds me of the air to air combat scene in the movie Top Gun!

I absolutely know exactly what you are talking about. Ours are just outside of the breakfast window. And that window is a 6 foot by 7 foot size. All the feeders are located within a few feet of each other so we can monitor them easily. Well right above the feeders is a hangover rain gutter. We have them sit on the gutter watching for any other birds to battle with. We have three 28oz to 32oz feeders and have had all the opening filled up with birds and so many flying around looking for an opening. It looks bizzaro world lots for times. Like you took a baseball bat to a honest's nest. Seriously, some times it honestly looks scare to see that many hummingbirds buzzing around a one time.

 

[bassman284]

WIMUSKY, I am not surprised to hear yours are gone. You live so far north they probably left a while ago. As for geese, seem we have geese that stay here year round. They showed up many years back and never left again. And I mean lots of them. Every water spot, pond, and lake around the city has lots of geese. Some times it looks like the have take over water ways. And the don't leave. They do make a huge mess too!

bassman, if you continue feeding them, you will get lots more. The wife and I were talking about how many probably were hatched here in our yard that now make this they home during the early spring to mid to late fall. And they have young ones and the cycle continues now. You've seen the videos. We have more birds then we can count anymore. But we like them as well. :thumb:

i appreciate the encouragement but I've been feeding them for 6 or 7 years now and the numbers haven't really changed much. It doesn't really surprise me because I live in a fairly big condo association and people here don't garden so there are very few flowers around. Mine are probably regulars who know about my feeders and swing by on their way to greener pastures, so to speak. In addition, my feeders are on a second floor deck about 15 feet off the ground and out in the sun so generally not ideal. I'm just glad I get a few.

 

[David Young]

I live in East Tennessee and haven't seen a humming bird for the last few days. I'll leave the feeder out for a few more days. I agree, they sure do like to fight :lol:

 

[gm280]

I live in East Tennessee and haven't seen a humming bird for the last few days. I'll leave the feeder out for a few more days. I agree, they sure do like to fight :lol:

David Young, we still have lots of them feeding. But both my wife and I have now seen that all the birds we seen today were only the females. Seem the males have already taking their flight further south for the season.