Hummingbirds in Fall

[turd]

Wow, we have been seeing LOTS of hummingbirds at our feeder. I don't know much about their migration, but they seem to be gathering and stoking up on food for the journey. We have one couple that lives and raises their young in our oak tree, but these are all sizes and many different colors. At first, the locals were on guard to protect their food source (our feeder), but they may have left. We are seeing a bunch of new ones. Pretty cool.

 

[41Dude]

I found that a 12 gauge with 7 1/2 shot
works best if you stay within about 15 feet. Oh, wait............
Never mind.

 

[turd]

Man, a limit of hummingbirds wouldn't get enough for more than a taste. Don't invite friends to your BBQ!

I've heard they are good with ketchup.

 

[41Dude]

Man, a limit of hummingbirds wouldn't get enough for more than a taste. Don't invite friends to your BBQ!

I've heard they are good with ketchup.

We have a few zoom around our hanging plants mostly towards evening.
Amazing to watch how they can hover over the blooms. Fun stuff.

 

[RoninPA]

This is getting to be the humming bird migration period and they feed to double their weight (from 1 1/2 Oz. to 3 oz.) before they start leaving. I read that they will travel up to 2000 miles in their migration.

 

[txramfan]

We have noticed a lot more females at our 2 feeders. The males might have headed south, I haven't seen the flash of that ruby throat in a week.
I always enjoy watching them eat little bugs when the light is right.

 

[wproct]

We used to have some hummingbird feeders but haven't for a while. I saw the other day on facebook a young fellow who used to be neighbors to us posted a picture of a large praying mantis and one of his friends warned that they will kill hummingbirds which I had never heard before, but I guess it's true.

 

[jimbo1096]

I haven’t had nearly as many this year. Maybe most of them went to South Dakota? Seems they only like one particular feeder with a blue bottle. I had two others, but didn’t seem to like them this year. It’s fun to watch them in air to air combat when more than one wants to go to the feeder at the same time.

 

[Jeepnik]

They are pretty much year round here. Anas mostly. I have several Purple Sage plants as does my neighbor. They seem to bloom year round here.

 

[MaxMan]

Man, a limit of hummingbirds wouldn't get enough for more than a taste. Don't invite friends to your BBQ!

I've heard they are good with ketchup.

Not Honey Mustard?

 

[Wvfarrier]

Ours left last week

 

[jimbo1096]

A new buddy has been coming this past week and he’s a very loud hummer. He’s twice the size of the ones I’ve been seeing and I don’t exactly know what kind it is. Anybody have an idea? Also, when he goes to the feeder and feeds and then he backs away and goes back again each time he backs away, He makes chirping noises. I’ve never heard a hummingbird do that before.

 

[Jeepnik]

Our local Anas make a peeping/chirping noise. Nothing in the photo to give any sense of scale.

 

[jimbo1096]

He wouldn’t sit still long enough for me to hold a ruler up to him

 

[turd]

Good shot. We had one like that maybe 10 days ago. I've never seen one with a white neck or torso before. I would like to know as well.

 

[Lt Choate]

This has been our first year for putting out feeders and we have two on the back deck and they stay covered up. Given the fact that they migrate such a long distance, are we supposed to pull the feeders in at a certain point to encourage them to take off and join their pards....? Or, do we keep feeding them and they will leave when they are ready? I don't want to entice them to stay and then they have to deal with the harsh winter...
What do most of your do??

 

[Ride1949]

A new buddy has been coming this past week and he's a very loud hummer. He's twice the size of the ones I've been seeing and I don't exactly know what kind it is. Anybody have an idea? Also, when he goes to the feeder and feeds and then he backs away and goes back again each time he backs away, He makes chirping noises. I've never heard a hummingbird do that before.

View attachment 81931

Kinda looks like a female Ruby Throated Hummingbird.

 

[jimbo1096]

I think you’re right. I haven’t seen one that big before

 

[txramfan]

This has been our first year for putting out feeders and we have two on the back deck and they stay covered up. Given the fact that they migrate such a long distance, are we supposed to pull the feeders in at a certain point to encourage them to take off and join their pards....? Or, do we keep feeding them and they will leave when they are ready? I don't want to entice them to stay and then they have to deal with the harsh winter...
What do most of your do??

We have always left our feeders out until we don't see any hummingbirds feeding. For us not seeing any means no sightings for at least a week, and I've gone two weeks in years past.
Leaving a feeder out will not encourage a bird to stay is what I have read.

 

[Lt Choate]

We have always left our feeders out until we don't see any hummingbirds feeding. For us not seeing any means no sightings for at least a week, and I've gone two weeks in years past.
Leaving a feeder out will not encourage a bird to stay is what I have read.

Ok thanks. That is exactly what I needed to know and I appreciate it.

 

[Tensaw]

We have had several for about a week feeding at the feeder. And they don't like to share.

 

[Papalote]

We keep a feeder out year round. Have a couple of locals that stay here. This time of the year we put out 3 or 4 feeders. They get covered up.

 

[Jeepnik]

I've never put feeders out for any animal. On the other hand my neighbor first put out feeders and then planted Purple Sage. The Sage blooms just about year round here, and the hummingbirds love it. Of course she used to complain that my cat would stalk the birds. Hey, what can I say. He was a meat hunter, and had no qualms hunting over bait.

 

[JeffInMi]

I'm in SE Michigan and I've had more Hummers (Ruby Throated) at my feeder this year than previous years. The males have been gone for about a month, so the ones I've seen since are females. The males are always the first to head south. The last female I had at my feeder was 6 days ago, so they've left now also. I leave my feeder up for a couple weeks after I see the last bird, in case some migrating birds come through from northern parts.

 

[Richard C]

There is a Humming bird website "hummingbird-guide.com" that tells you about their habits, and has a lot of info including a migration map of the US. It says the males are very aggressive towards each other, especially late in the season. I have males that can't get within 10 feet of each other without fighting. Often one will sit and wait off to the side, somewhere, and then attack one that comes to feed - like a guard! I put 4 feeders up to minimize fighting, but they still do.

 

[roarindan51]

I read somewhere that the birds born this summer will migrate south with no parental guidance or companionship to get them there.

 

[Lt Choate]

I read somewhere that the birds born this summer will migrate south with no parental guidance or companionship to get them there.

Gee...... and in the human species, Gen Z & Gen X'ers can't even navigate out to look for a job without parental guidance or companionship.

 

[Hawk-in-Wi]

Our local Anas make a peeping/chirping noise. Nothing in the photo to give any sense of scale.

if you can, video them and then load it on a computer and really slow the speed down and listen to their peeps and chirping , it's really out of this world