Today I saw a hummingbird!

[Stephen Cherry]

Ok, got my Hummingbird feeder in place, full of juice, and ready for the birds!

[Tom Fischer]

Great pics. we get hummingbirds in the garden, but never got pics.
My wife puts different flowers on the deck.
These guys (below) come by in the late summer.
I think they migrate to South America, or something amazing like that

Monarch.JPG

[Karl Andersson]

Stephen,
here in Maryland, we normally only see one species of hummingbird (the ruby-throated) - they are pretty cool to watch but if you're looking for more variety, keep your eyes out for hummingbird moths. I have several species that come by my gardens - the coolest is a big one that is colored to mimic the ruby-throated bird, and there are several smaller ones that look like bees. Sort of a "bug trivia" thing to display to friends and family, especially since many of them are mimics of other animals.
enjoy,
Karl

[Matt Marsh]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/10...ps4d1a0e46.mp4

I've been feeding about 10 cups of nectar a day the past few weeks. It will at least double that after the babies fledge in July.

[Matt Marsh]

Shooting hummingbirds is another hobby of mine.

hummerIMGP2312.jpg

[Joe Kieve]

We've had them here since mid-April, males show up first, then females about a month later. I have two feeders and only feed them sugar water...1 cup of sugar to 4 cups of water. It's recommended that you boil the water first, but I have a kitchen faucet filter so haven't been doing that. So far, no problems that I can detect.

[Matt Marsh]

It's recommended that you boil the water first, but I have a kitchen faucet filter so haven't been doing that. So far, no problems that I can detect.

Boiling or not boiling has been a question by many, but for the most part has been proven to be a waste of time and energy. The microorganisms that cause fermentation do not come from the water; they are transported to the feeder on hummingbird's bills. If the water is safe for human consumption, it is safe for the hummers.

Here is a site for some good information on attracting hummingbirds, along with the recommended feeding techniques and recipe.

www.hummingbirds.net

The recipe: The site recommends using cane sugar, but my tests have shown that the hummers don't care is it's beet or cane sugar.

http://hummingbirds.net/feeders.html#recipe

[Mel Fulks]

We have jewel weed growing wild along a stream . I have not seen any feeder or other type flower that the humming birds like any better. Curiously they seem to just feed from it in the afternoon and go to something else earlier in the day.

[Don Kondra]

FYI - I use this site to track the returning birds

http://www.learner.org/jnorth/maps/h...pring2013.html

Cheers, Don

[Ed Aumiller]

We plant four containers of red "Salvia" flowers on our deck.. bees, wasps, etc cannot get into them, but the hummers love them...
What is amazing to me is when they return in the spring, they go from planter to planter even though we have not planted the flowers yet...
Means we get the same ones back after there migration south and back...

If you use feeders, keep them clean...

[Bill Neely]

We have a pair of Anna's that live here year round. They are quite curious, relatively fearless, very territorial and full of character.

I can count on them re-introducing themselves each spring. Usually what happens is I am out in the yard, working in one place for a while and one of them will buzz up behind me and then slowly slide around to face me. It always startles me, but leaves me smiling. Just their way of letting me know they've got their eyes on me. It's their yard I guess, but they're good about sharing.

Your description is perfect! We've had Annas year round' for about 5 years, I've had them get right up in front of my face and hover. Right now there seems to be about 5 of them that visit the yard and they'll chase each other all over the place - buzz right by me or my wife like we were pylons at an air race. The Rufous hummingbirds showed up about a month ago, they're more shy.

[Andy Pedler]

David's right, you only need the colored water to attract them initially.

PLEASE DO NOT USE COLORED SUGAR WATER! I don't mean to be rude, but the food coloring is for people and not the birds. It has no effect on attracting hummers to your feeder and the food coloring used can be harmful to the birds.

If you want to start a new hummingbird feeding station, simply mix sugar and water. When you first place your feeder out, fill it with a mix of about 3.5-to-1 water-to-sugar ratio. Refill it every week or two, even if the birds aren't finishing it off. Once you have hummingbirds feeding regularly, you can back off the sweetness of your mix to 4-to-1.

You don't need to heat the water to dissolve the sugar but it sure goes a lot faster that way. I store the extra simple syrup in the fridge for over a month.

[Stephen Cherry]

PLEASE DO NOT USE COLORED SUGAR WATER! I don't mean to be rude, but the food coloring is for people and not the birds. It has no effect on attracting hummers to your feeder and the food coloring used can be harmful to the birds.

If you want to start a new hummingbird feeding station, simply mix sugar and water. When you first place your feeder out, fill it with a mix of about 3.5-to-1 water-to-sugar ratio. Refill it every week or two, even if the birds aren't finishing it off. Once you have hummingbirds feeding regularly, you can back off the sweetness of your mix to 4-to-1.

You don't need to heat the water to dissolve the sugar but it sure goes a lot faster that way. I store the extra simple syrup in the fridge for over a month.

Great advice, plus the simple syrup could be used for summertime drinks to be enjoyed while watching the birds.

[ray hampton]

I am watching a special about this bird, one fact is that they eat insects for protein [ about 1/4 of their diet ] one species in Brazil [sword bill ] of humming bird got a bill longer than its body , between 6 to 10 inches

the internet said the the bill are about 4 inches so my guess / way off

[Wade Lippman]

We had a wind spinner on the deck. The hummers were diving at it and landing on it all day long; so we put a feeder near it. Now they ignore both. Go figure.