Are you a hummingbird fan?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(burritos @ Feb 22 2007, 09:56 AM) [snapback]394472[/snapback]</div>

I too like hummingbirds - well cooked at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes and covered in an orange or cherry based sauce

Honestly, they are cool and i like birds in general. We have a second home in western mass located in the "state forrest system" and love the wildlife we live with there and see more frequently than around our home in westchester country. we run into wild turkeys, there are bear, and birds of all sorts, and lots of other stuff. it is our favorite place.

 

How often do you have to refill the feeder? I assume the liquid stuff.

 

I like mine on a stick and breaded.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(burritos @ Feb 22 2007, 09:56 AM) [snapback]394472[/snapback]</div>

Isn't it Mastercard that says that?

Hummingbirds are cool, I read that they weigh less than a penny! I would love to hold one, but again, they are delicate, don't want to 'break' one

 

we've got hummers living in our backyard too... i'm really going to miss them. i hope that our feeder has visitors at our new place.

i love all kinds of birds... except i'm not so fond of pigeons.

 

My two hummingbird stories:

Story the first: When I lived in California, a hummingbird built its nest right outside our dining room window. We could see the teeny-tiny eggs and everything. When they hatched, we watched these impossibly small things grow into still amazingly small birds that were really cool.

Story the second: In another apartment I lived in California, the entryway had a little overhang on the open doorway that went to the street, and a closed glass doorway that lead to the courtyard. My wife and I were leaving when I suddenly saw a hummingbird go WHAM! against the overhang, turn around, and go WHAM! against the glass door. I opened the door, hoping it would fly through, but it stayed out of reach. Eventually it tired out and landed on the ground. I bent down to see if it was OK, and up it flew, WHAM! back into the overhang, repeating everything again. Eventually it tired again and went back to the ground. I grabbed a newspaper that was there, dove on the bird (gently), wrapping it in the paper. I then opened the doorway to the courtyard and opened the paper. Immediately it went ZOOOM! above the apartments and to freedom.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dbermanmd @ Feb 22 2007, 10:12 AM) [snapback]394478[/snapback]</div>

 

We've got a couple of feeders. In the summer, it's not uncommon to have a dozen hummers at one time.
Burritos, your sugar water is very concentrated. We make ours 1 to 4 or 1 to 5. Maybe those southern california birds like it stronger.

 

I'm fascinated by these little creatures. Though they seem so fragile, they are actually quite durable little balls of energy. When migrating, they fly non stop 20 hours (500 miles) across the Gulf of Mexico and their hearts beat 500 times per minute!

My first encounter was after I established a native plant garden outside my house. Believe it or not, I had never seen a hummingbird before 2 years ago. After I saw the little guy I put out a feeder and then I saw a second one. They were fighting eachother like little jet fighters so I went and bought another feeder and put it on the other side of my house so they could both eat in peace. Now, every Fall, I put out two feeders for any stragglers that may get hungery when migrating. I don't take them down until mid October or early November. I'm hoping that I'm lucky enough to have one nest in my yard this year.

There's a website where people log in hummer sightings in the Spring so you can keep track of their progress.

A word about feeders. I heard that if you have a feeder out, it should be thoroughly cleaned every 2 days or so as the sugar water is a bacteria haven. The birds can become very sick and even die from this. If you can't maintain this, you're probably doing them more of a favor not even having a feeder available to them. You can make large quantities of the sugar water and keep what you don't use in the freezer so that you don't have to mix fresh batches each cleaning session. I'm not sure how long this water keeps fresh in the freezer though. Also, NEVER use honey or turbanado sugar as this is also hazardous to them. Only use white sugar.

How much land do y'all have that you have hummers nesting in your yard?
I'm asking because I wonder if they require larger swaths of land in which to nest.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(burritos @ Feb 22 2007, 01:29 PM) [snapback]394595[/snapback]</div>

OK,goody. Maybe I'll have some nesting in my yard. To date, there was nowhere for them to nest but I planted about 20 trees, shurbs and vines all over the place so I guess I'll have to be patient. We in the East have only the Ruby Throated Hummer. I think you have about 8 different species, no?

 

My mother loved to sit and look at the hummingbirds that would drink from the feeder on our patio. As she got sicker with lung cancer and had to be hospitilized, her hummingbirds were one of the things she really missed. Now that she's gone, everytime I see a hummingbird I think of her and wonder if she's sending me some sort of sign that she's still around.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SSimon @ Feb 22 2007, 11:01 AM) [snapback]394564[/snapback]</div>

I've heard you shouldn't feed them too long, as they'll stay as long as there is food, and you don't want them caught in a snowstorm.

Back in N. MN we had a feeder and watched plenty of hummingbird battles. We put up a second feeder, but if it's in eyesight of the first, the dominant male will stay where he can see both and try to chase off intruders. My parents now live in SW MN and say the hummingbirds there just migrate through. Here in Chicagoland I've seen the hummers as they migrate north, but haven't seem them around in the summer.

 

Count me in as a hummingbird fan. Here's a pic my neice sent me. The birds are feeding from a dish of sugarwater in this lady's hand. She lives on a migration route (Texas I think).

- Tom

[attachmentid=6652]

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(nerfer @ Feb 22 2007, 02:20 PM) [snapback]394632[/snapback]</div>

That part about them staying around and not migrating if there's food, I heard that's a myth. I heard the absolute opposite...that you want to keep food available so that the late stragglers still have an energy source since not many flowers bloom in late September through October. Here are links suggesting this. I tried to find a link from Cornell University, which would be a much more reliable resource, but my subscription has expired.

http://www.mdc.mo.gov/nathis/birds/humbird/

http://www.cedar-works.com/newsite/feeding_myths.html

Burritos link also states that feeder placement duration doesn't hinder migration times.

Nerfer, you should head out to Illinois State Beach in the Fall to see the Monarchs migrate, if you haven't already witnessed this. You'll see them by the hundreds. It's rather dizzying. You'd be amazed at the strength of their flight, too, as they zip across the lake to the shore line.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(burritos @ Feb 22 2007, 02:03 PM) [snapback]394613[/snapback]</div>

They move so fast, it's probably hard to get a good look. Now I'm jonesing for Spring!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(eclectcmoi @ Feb 22 2007, 02:56 PM) [snapback]394609[/snapback]</div>

That is so sweet! What a lovely memory. Ladybug's are my family's sign that our relatives past are watching over. I like humming birds too. The used to visit my roses and trumpet vine at old house. I would like to plant some flowers this spring that would attract them.