I believe I know have three hummers, an immature male, a female, and today I spotted a ruby-throated male!! We live in base housing and they are doing renovations (putting on a front porch and turing the carport into a garage), well today I was on my side patio checking out some of my moonvine and hibiscus cuttings that I have rooting in water and two of the construction people entered my front yard. Well my little female hummer came buzzing up and literally got in this ladies face and started chripping up a storm. It was too funny. I she didn't like strangers near her feeder, she never bothers me.

Probably because they know where their food comes from--you!

I was outside filling my feeders yesterday and they were flying around and chirping loud---as soon as I hung them up they were right there!

Mine sits there and ignores me......so far.

I'm sitting here and watching them out my window and the male just flew up, he never comes around when I'm outside. I got up to take a closer look, he spotted me and ZOOM he was gone!!

Cool! I moved 2 feeders up on the back porch near my woodsmans weatherstick. Well I looked out and it's THE perfect perch for them.....one was sitting right on it!

I've never had humming birds before, and I want them! My mom gets them by her gardens all the time and they are like giant mosquitos!

I just put out the feeders a few days ago. My husband and I were sitting out on our pation yesterday morning and he asked me if I had seen any hummers and I said "No, not yet" and as soon as I said that a hummingbird flew up to my feeder!!

If you feed them, they will come!

They seem to be multiping in numbers. Yesterday, I had two. Today, I have three. Maybe tomorrow I will have some more

My wife reports we now have two hummers and one appears to be a male. They were hanging around our red Cannas today.

ND, if there is a Walmart close to you, go by there and pick up a Hummingbird feeder. They should be in the Wild Birds section of the pet department and they have some for about $2.50 that my hummers love. You mix one part table sugar to four parts tap water and stir, then heat in the microwave for one minute and stir again until ALL the sugar is dissolved. I make up 2-3 liters at a time and store the extra in the refrigerator until needed. Refill your feeders when they get empty or about every 3 days whichever comes first. You WILL get hummers if you do this. They ARE in North Dakota.

I got both of my feeders from Wal-Mart as well. I bought the nectar that you mix with water though. I will have to use your receipe Thornius!

I have a bird book here that says you can use 10x Powdered Sugar and Water, and you don't have to heat it because the sugar is so fine that it mixes right up. I tried it once and it worked great.

Hey loz,

Do you use the same ratio?

Pretty much, yep--I'm good at eyeballing it now..... The birds seemed to like it....and it was quicker than heating up regular sugar.

Never tried that before. May have to use that one though I have not had any here in weeks.

I've heard that about 10X powdered sugar, too, but I haven't tried it yet.

Thanks for all the good tips, everyone. In late summer when I bring the feeders in for the last clean-up, I refill them with tap water that has been set out for at least 24hrs to get rid of some of the chemicals, then rehang the feeders. The Hummers seem to appreciate the water almost as much as the homemade nectar.

They do like and need plain water. When I water my Cannas, the hummers swarm them to apparently get the water trapped in the leaves.

Rose, you should leave your feeders out all year. Each Winter, every Eastern and Mid-western state get a few Hummers, notably the Rufous Hummingbird, that decide NOT to migrate to Central and South America, but instead, stay in the above sections of the U.S. for the Winter. If they do not get nectar, they die. The cold does not bother them at all, IF they have the nectar they need. Chances are you WON'T get one, but I have personally seen a male Rugous at a feeder in Winter here in Nashville, TN about 18 years ago, when I had just started birding and just two years ago a husband and wife birder team in Smithville, TN just 40 miles from me had a male Rufous Hummer spend the Winter with them. They named him, "Willie" cause every morning they would say, "Willie come today?"

Do you think I should leave my feeders up as and also I have two feeders, should I put nectar in one and water in the other?

Thorny will know the best answer for that....

This is hard to see because I had to take it through the screen but you can just make out the hummer sitting on the weatherstick Wrennie sent me!

He's thinking what a perfect perching spot.

Oh I see it there Loz! Great perch!

I see him, I bet he really likes his perch!!!

They love to perch near the feeders. Mine perch in the same willow tree my feeders hang from.

As to the two feeder one for water and one for nectar it wouldn't hurt to try. Hummers HAVE to have a source of pure drinking water so, WHY NOT A FEEDER OF WATER? It's worth a try!

I will try the water in one of the feeders next time I change the nectar. I got a picture of one of my hummers just a few minutes ago, she flew right up to the feeder with me right beside it!!

Nice shot Monica!

Amazing Monica! We have the SAME feeder! Here is my new hummer at my new feeder.

Hummercane Camille

Looks like we have twin feeders and hummers. I named mine squeaky because she is always chirping up a storm!!! Today, she was chasing the immature male that comes around and she chased him right into the screen in my porch and he got stuck!! He got lose after a second or two, you could see the look of confusion on his face!!!

They are so funny here at dusk, each one frantically trying to "boss" the feeders getting their last licks in!!! They can't share and only one will drink at the feeder at a time. The others will swoop and dive-bomb the feeder to chase away whoever is there!

What a great picture Monica of the hummingbird at the feeder!
Thanks for sharing

I like to sit outside on my porch around 7:00, they fight and dive bomb each other and chirp like crazy. They put on a show every evening.

That would be so neat to be able to sit and watch them..i would love that..
Thanks again for sharing!

well now,ive still got a bunch of hummers fighting over the feeders along with some downy woodpeckers, just recently i saw a chickadee feeding at the feeder on the porch.
i really didnt expect all these visitors when i first put the feeders up last year.
late last year i had baltimore orioles visit.
i didnt know that many different species would be attracted to the feeders.
on another note,i had bees coming to the one on the porch and ants had found thier way to the one out back hanging from a maple tree.
i put some cooking oil around the feeder ports on the one on the porch and soon the bees left it alone. got to thinking about the ants out back and grabbed a can of pam and sprayed the hack out of the cord it was hanging from and the top of the feeder. sure enough,they left it alone after that. i read it somewhere to try and im happy to say so far so good

I have ants getting on my smaller feeder, I may have to try the Pam.

Lola loves to watch the hummingbirds fight.
She sits on the back of her chair and chatters at them...making the exact same noise they make.


...and Kyeow Meow sits in the window watching them constantly.
Ever now and then she will paw at the glass, trying to catch one!

Oh, Cindy, you have a MALE hummer! AND A WLLOW TREE, TOO! All my hummers are females so far. and ALL my feeders hang from my Weeping Willow in my front yard. When I prune the branches that get too long I drop them into Two Bean Bags' cage. He knows how to process them into rich fertilizer.

Many of them...and many females, too!
(...the one you can see hovering over to the right in the top picture is a female)

And...MANY babies!

There are so many hummingbirds here this summer Brennan won't even play in the front yard. I have never had this many before...I'm sure there are a hundred hummingbirds in this yard all the time.

I like to go outside and put the sprayer on "mist" setting and aim it up into the air. They play in it...they just seem to pop out from everywhere when I do this...and there's a cloud of them playing in the water. It's awesome!

We have been enjoying our one hummer so much this year. She is the cutest and funniest thing. We can be sitting on the patio and she'll come along and hover right in front of us and just stay there looking at us. I want to put my finger up to see if she will land on it but I'm afraid she will fly away. She is enjoying the honeysuckle and glads. but I want to get a feeder hoping she will come back next year and bring some friends. Sue

Cindy, those are terrific pictures. I love to see the different reactions between species and you captured a couple of great shots.

I have three females now, I had a Male for about a day and haven't seen him anymore. I have seen the immature male anymore either. I really hope they come back next year.

Cindy, I have noticed that they like to play in the mist when I'm watering my flowers. Many of my birds in my yard LOVE to be deliberately sprayed by my hose.

What's the deal with wasps?
Are hummingbirds afraid of them?

Awhile ago there was a wasp on one of the feeders, and there were 12 hummingbirds hovering around the feeder, some getting pretty close like they were going to stab the wasp with their beak...but none of them would land on the feeder while the wasp was there.

I went out and sprayed water on the feeder to get the wasp off.

Oh I wonder if that is the reason my hummers went away?

I just found this...

ohhhhh noooo. That is just so sad.

I am even more glad now that I cleared out that nest!

I am really enjoying this thread, and all the pictures too!

I must say that this year I also have many more hummers than usual!!! I just love them! This past week or so, they've been draining my 3 feeders every other day or so - I've never had that before - they have never drained them at all before this! The dancing that they do while defending their territory has been great entertainment for us during dinner too!

The best part, is that this year I am actually witnessing them enjoying the plants that I've specifically planted for them - 1st time! The red salvias in the planter boxes on the deck are doing very well for the first time, and the hummers have been going to town on them! I am not partial to red flowers, but grow them for the hummers.

I've also seen them at the monarda, coneflowers, trumpet vines, and butterfly bushes. Great fun!

There are bees that chase them away from my feeders here also - if I am around, I try to chase them off.

I have the most hummers I have ever had ANYWHERE! I've noticed this trend all across the U.S. this year. GREATLY increased numbers of hummers coming to the feeders EVERYWHERE. I think what helped me is deliberately planting RED flowers this year to attract them, especially 30 red Cannas that the hummers LOVE! They are also going crazy over my mixed color Zinnias of all things! I also planted red Salvias this year (although my State has outlawed them a couple of weeks ago due to their hallucinogenic properties, that I had NEVER heard of before)I also Planted red Verbenas and red Gladiolus.

Thorny - I saw a hummer at my yellow dwarf canna on the deck this evening! Can't wait for JV's red one to bloom!

I have red lantana this year also - not by choice - when I bought them they were yellow and orange in color - I didn't know they also turned red. Haven't spotted the hummers by them, but they're not in a spot that I can easily sit and watch.

I knew about the salvia being a hallucinogen - but didn't know they were outlawed in any states - interesting!

You can plant all colors of flowers for hummers as long as they're a nectar producing flower. The yellow on the feeders is what primarily attracts the bees and wasps.If you find a feeder with no yellow this will help with the bees. Yes they are made I have some in my shop. Heritage farms droll yankee and aspects makes them. Hummers are attracted to red blooms first partly because bees & wasps see red as black and are attrated to it last of all. And hummers know thats where the bees are least likely to be.

oh, also there are hummer feeders with built in ant moats you fill with water that the ants wont cross. Ant guards can also be bought seperately and hung above the feeder.

Gardenfairy, Monica, can I put your picture on my website?

Hummers have been more active here, too, and surprisingly they have been working the Rose of Sharons more than any other plants out there. Very rarely take time to hit the feeders. When it's raining, they will come to the feeder under the porch eaves.

Here's a little Imaging Tip...when gettting that occasional shot through the window (very dirty window I might add) be sure the wand to the mini blinds is not reflecting in the glass.