Re: The thread for birds and birding
I've had hummingbirds here for a while. Saw the first one back in March I think. When hummingbirds first show up use a 2:1 (sugar:water) mixture. They are going to be looking for the most bang for the buck. They wont come a lot at first but should hang out for longer when they do come. Then go to a 4:1 after that. I always make my own sugar water. Cheaper and no dyes or anything (everything I read online says don't add food coloring and dont buy the premade stuff, plain sugar water is best).
Your ratios of 2:1 (sugar:water) and 4:1 (sugar:water) seem backwards. Is that for real? I've always used 4:1 (water:sugar... 4 cups of water/1 cup of sugar).
Like you, I've never fed my hummers anything but clear water and granulated sugar. I bring the water to a boil, remove from heat, then stir in the sugar until fully dissolved. Have had lots of hummers here for years and they seem to like it.
They crack me up. If I haven't gotten the feeders out yet in the spring and they arrive, there's one that will hover at my family room picture window in the early morning. He's just looks in like he's saying... 'hey buddy, I'm back. Where's the food?'
I have 4 hummer feeders in all. One at the front kitchen window, 1 suction cupped to the rear family room window, and 2 at the rear deck railings. Those 2 hang on cast rods that are bolted to the rail posts. The deck is 8' off the ground and the feeders hang almost 6' above the deck (or 14' above ground), which is right about my eye level when I'm on the deck. I'm an early bird and spend a lot of time on the deck or in the gardens starting at 4:30 a.m. I have one hummer that has been very friendly the last 3 years. I'll be leaning on the deck railing early morning having a smoke, about 3 feet away from one of the feeders. I see him coming out of the corner of my eye across the yard. He flies right up to me at about 100 mph, then stops. He hovers about 2 feet in front of my face, then moves close to me about 6" away. He backs up and comes close again about three more times, then over to the feeder he goes. We're just saying good morning to each other.
A bully hummer showed up last year and he's back again this year. And he's the tiniest hummer of the bunch. He won't let any other hummers near 'his feeders'. He'll be 200' feet away and when another hummer shows up, he'll fly over just to chase him away... then he doesn't even take a drink. LOL. It's fun watching the others try to out maneuver him. I've seen 2 team up together. They both fly over and the bully shows up to chase them off. One hummer keeps the bully busy getting chased around while the other drinks. Too funny.
