[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Hummingbirds (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 7/5/2014 11:33:43 AM EDT
We've got our biggest crop ever; at least 7 birds engaging in mortal aerial combat fighting over the vaunted Giver of Nectars
And some slow-mo footage from the Virb; 120 fps 
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We have bright green ones, never seen other colors.
I went a few days without filling mine and one day, sitting on the deck a hummingbird stopped in front of my face, about three feet away and just hovered there, looking at me (accusatorily, I believe). I immediately refilled the feeder. 
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I have hummmers around the house from sun up to sun down, they usually come in one/two at a time during the day. almost every evening I get 5 in the yard at once about an hour before sunset, most of them play nice but ONE is a greedy little bastard and tries to chase the all others from not only the feeders but any plants that have nectar... fun watching them go at it. One of my evening regulars does something I've never seen another do... he buzzes the grass fanning it with it's wings and tail causing any little flying bugs hanging out to go airborne, they are promptly eaten
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Quoted:
One started attacking the shit outta me a few years back... So I smacked it out of the air during its aerial assualt! Picked that fucker up to get a better look at it... Turned out to be some sort of moth  Hemaris thysbe Hummingbird Moth, perchance? 
It must've thought you were a flower.
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they are amazing animals, in so many ways. highest metabolism of all animals, outside of insects. heart rate has been recorded as high as 1,260bpm (my max is 187 or so).
their metabolism is so high they have to eat more than their weight in nectar every day, to not be in calorie deficit. they enter a mini-hibernation every night (called torpor), to slow their metabolism so they don't starve to death while sleeping for several hours a night. many species cross over the Gulf of Mexico twice a year during their migration, following their food sources. average lifespan is 3-5 years, though one individual was found to live 11 years, in the wild. they are found from southern Alaska to Tierra del Fuego. hummingbirds are tiny badasses. ETA: sweet vid, OP. |
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Quoted: They are also the only bird that can fly backwards.  My mom once caught one that got stuck in a green house. |
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Where in VA? I'm in Va. Beach, south of Little Creek. I have a feeder up with the red stuff (typical Lowe's setup) but haven't seen a damn one. Chief sammich maker says it's hanging up too high on the front porch; needs to be lower where thay can see it better. Don't know where OP is, but I'm right outside Quantico. I've got the el-cheapo set-up mounted on poles about eye level out in the sun. |
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4 parts water 1 part sugar. Put in the food safe silicone in the feeder because they would always leave about 1/2 the mixture in there since they couldn't reach it. Pic from last year. Have had to rescue some from the house and garage when they got trapped in there. |
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Where in VA? I'm in Va. Beach, south of Little Creek. I have a feeder up with the red stuff (typical Lowe's setup) but haven't seen a damn one. Chief sammich maker says it's hanging up too high on the front porch; needs to be lower where thay can see it better. Bold may be part if not all of your problem. I've had feeders for years and make my own nectar, I recently bought a new feeder that included a packet of the red stuff you mix with water, I mixed it up and not ONE hummingbird would drink much of it, they would fly up, taste it and then go straight to one of my other feeders and tank up  My nectar mix is one cup sugar and 4 cups water heated just enough for the sugar to fully dissolve, no red food coloring or any thing else... just water and sugar... bottle up the extra and stick it in the fridge for future refills.
My feeders hang about 8ft off the ground, as long as you can see the feeder clearly I don't think its too high... might take a few days for the hummers to find the feeder. |
| That reminds me, I gotta refill our feeder. They're fun to watch, I don't see how the feeder is an effective food source though... they spend more time chasing each other off than eating. 5 spots on the feeder and only one MAYBE two birds at a time in between the chasing. |
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Quoted:
Bold may be part if not all of your problem. I've had feeders for years and make my own nectar, I recently bought a new feeder that included a packet of the red stuff you mix with water, I mixed it up and not ONE hummingbird would drink much of it, they would fly up, taste it and then go straight to one of my other feeders and tank up My nectar mix is one cup sugar and 4 cups water heated just enough for the sugar to fully dissolve, no red food coloring or any thing else... just water and sugar... bottle up the extra and stick it in the fridge for future refills.
My feeders hang about 8ft off the ground, as long as you can see the feeder clearly I don't think its too high... might take a few days for the hummers to find the feeder. Quoted:
Where in VA? I'm in Va. Beach, south of Little Creek. I have a feeder up with the red stuff (typical Lowe's setup) but haven't seen a damn one. Chief sammich maker says it's hanging up too high on the front porch; needs to be lower where thay can see it better. Bold may be part if not all of your problem. I've had feeders for years and make my own nectar, I recently bought a new feeder that included a packet of the red stuff you mix with water, I mixed it up and not ONE hummingbird would drink much of it, they would fly up, taste it and then go straight to one of my other feeders and tank up My nectar mix is one cup sugar and 4 cups water heated just enough for the sugar to fully dissolve, no red food coloring or any thing else... just water and sugar... bottle up the extra and stick it in the fridge for future refills.
My feeders hang about 8ft off the ground, as long as you can see the feeder clearly I don't think its too high... might take a few days for the hummers to find the feeder. OK, I'll dump out the old stuff and try your recipe. |
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Hemaris thysbe Hummingbird Moth, perchance? http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/Insects/Hummingbird%20Moth/0917-38.jpg It must've thought you were a flower. Quoted:
Quoted:
One started attacking the shit outta me a few years back... So I smacked it out of the air during its aerial assualt! Picked that fucker up to get a better look at it... Turned out to be some sort of moth Hemaris thysbe Hummingbird Moth, perchance? http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/Insects/Hummingbird%20Moth/0917-38.jpg It must've thought you were a flower. First time I saw one of those, it was a serious W... T... F??? moment. |
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Quoted:
I have hummmers around the house from sun up to sun down, they usually come in one/two at a time during the day. almost every evening I get 5 in the yard at once about an hour before sunset, most of them play nice but ONE is a greedy little bastard and tries to chase the all others from not only the feeders but any plants that have nectar... fun watching them go at it. One of my evening regulars does something I've never seen another do... he buzzes the grass fanning it with it's wings and tail causing any little flying bugs hanging out to go airborne, they are promptly eaten He eats the bugs?? Never heard of a hummer doing that. |
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Quoted:
Where in VA? I'm in Va. Beach, south of Little Creek. I have a feeder up with the red stuff (typical Lowe's setup) but haven't seen a damn one. Chief sammich maker says it's hanging up too high on the front porch; needs to be lower where thay can see it better. Louisa County, halfway between Richmond and Charlottesville. We built our house out here in 2010 and the wife put up a feeder one summer afternoon; within 3 hours they had found it. Past several years we've 3 or 4 at a time, this is the first year I've seen 7 at once. |
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He eats the bugs?? Never heard of a hummer doing that. Quoted:
Quoted:
I have hummmers around the house from sun up to sun down, they usually come in one/two at a time during the day. almost every evening I get 5 in the yard at once about an hour before sunset, most of them play nice but ONE is a greedy little bastard and tries to chase the all others from not only the feeders but any plants that have nectar... fun watching them go at it. One of my evening regulars does something I've never seen another do... he buzzes the grass fanning it with it's wings and tail causing any little flying bugs hanging out to go airborne, they are promptly eaten He eats the bugs?? Never heard of a hummer doing that. fair amount of their diet is bugs. it's how they get fat & protein in their diet. they fatten up before their migration across Gulf of Mexico, doubling their weight before the journey. |
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He eats the bugs?? Never heard of a hummer doing that. Yep, I had never seen or heard of it either... I though I had some sort of mutant hummer from the Test site (I live in Las Vegas) anyway, I looked it up and damned if they don't get a good part of their diet from little bugs as generalissimo said. It's odd though... I've had hummingbirds around the house for YEARS and I've only ever seen this one hummer eating bugs... it's really impressive to see him low level, high speed buzzing the grass whipping his tail around stirring up the little bugs and then raise then straight up and snatch them out of the air!
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Quoted:
He eats the bugs?? Never heard of a hummer doing that. Quoted:
Quoted:
I have hummmers around the house from sun up to sun down, they usually come in one/two at a time during the day. almost every evening I get 5 in the yard at once about an hour before sunset, most of them play nice but ONE is a greedy little bastard and tries to chase the all others from not only the feeders but any plants that have nectar... fun watching them go at it. One of my evening regulars does something I've never seen another do... he buzzes the grass fanning it with it's wings and tail causing any little flying bugs hanging out to go airborne, they are promptly eaten He eats the bugs?? Never heard of a hummer doing that. They can't live on only sugar. They're made out of protein and bone. They'll eat small insects and spiders while getting most of their calories from sugar/nectar. |
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Stand beside the feeder and put your finger over the little perch. They'll land on your hand to eat. I did that to rescue a hummingbird from the garage. he was so exhausted he settled on the opener motor and climbed on my finger when I offered it. I walked him outside, put him in a tree, and he rested for 20 miutes before moving on. |
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I did that to rescue a hummingbird from the garage. he was so exhausted he settled on the opener motor and climbed on my finger when I offered it. I walked him outside, put him in a tree, and he rested for 20 miutes before moving on. Quoted:
Quoted:
Stand beside the feeder and put your finger over the little perch. They'll land on your hand to eat. I did that to rescue a hummingbird from the garage. he was so exhausted he settled on the opener motor and climbed on my finger when I offered it. I walked him outside, put him in a tree, and he rested for 20 miutes before moving on. We've had a few get stuck in the garage; they end up tiring themselves out and getting caught up in cobwebs. We then pick them up, gently pull off the cobwebs, and release. |
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Hummingbirds ARE mean little badasses. If those fuckers were the size of crows, it'd be dangerous to walk outside. This. We have tons of them here, have a couple of feeders. Neat little guys but they are little buttholes. Same feeders get orioles too. Funny watching a hummingbird have a tempter tantrum at an oriole for daring to use "his" feeder. |
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I had one fly up into the rafters of my garage and it seemed he could not find his way out despite all three doors being open. He just kept flying around hitting the roof. After watching this for a long time I decided to try to capture him and set him free. Do you have any idea how hard it is to net a hummingbird. Well I finally got it done and released him.
I found him dead the next day on the floor of the garage. |
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You could try placing a Banana Peel on top of your shepherds hook to attract fruit flies for the Hummers.
I do this every once in a while to help the little guys eat some bugs. I have 3 Hummers and I have named the all JIMMY. That way I don't get them confused.... I make my Nectar with 1 part sugar and 4 parts water in the Summer... I usually mix a little Heavier with the Sugar in the Spring and Fall when they are First coming in and then before they leave. |