Hummingbirds

[Rose]

When we moved to the new place, we never put up our hummingbird feeder. This spring, we put up sheperd's hooks around our deck planning to hang our hurricane lanterns there at night. The first warm night, we lit the lanterns and sat down. We hadn't been there for long when in flies a hummingbird to check out one of the lanterns. Then he flew on to the next one, and then the next one, and finally flew off rather annoyed. So up went the hummingbird feeder. Now we have two males who fight over it, to the point where one of them bumped the other one off the feeder the other night. We literally heard the thump only being 5 feet away.

[mcdude]

Click to view photos (not mine)

[Rattlesnake Gal]

Thanks McDude! Those photos are fantastic! The little hummers change so much from birth to flight. I'm still smiling.

[Rattlesnake Gal]

Is there nectar of some kind on Hemlock branches that Hummingbirds would drink? My hummers look like they are feeding off them as if they were flowers. Or is it more likely that they are eating bugs?

[madrasahs]

I found a hummingbird feather on the dock, and showed it around. Everybody asked what it was -- when I thought it was obvious~ (Admittedly, it was extremely small -- like one of those hemlock needles).

[Rattlesnake Gal]

Now that is some amazing photography! Great post Madrasahs.
Some years back, my son heard a bird hit the window. We went to check it out and it was a humming bird. Almost thought it was dead because it was lying there lifeless, with its tongue hanging out. I picked it up and realized that it was alive, just stunned. It was so minutely tiny and delicate. It took quite a while for it come around. It was a happy feeling to see it fly away safely. If Jeff hadn’t heard it, I’m sure it would have died. The neighbor’s cat likes to hang out near the patio and it was a very hot day. Good memory.
I just love watching these birds and the marvelous way they take flight.

[lakegirl]

Hi RG... I have a hummingbird feeder at my house and I seem to be attrackting lots of bees ...any suggestions?

[upthesaukee]

Great pic...

Lakegirl: unfortunately bees and hummingbirds go hand in hand. Try using feeders that have "bee guards" on them. The guards would be a mesh that the hummingbirds can get their beaks into, but the bees can't get to the sugar water, and usually reduces the number of bees, if not eliminate them.

[DRH]

We had an abundance of hummers this summer (hmmm, sounds like the name of a boat!) We put up three feeders in different locations to accomodate them all. Even so, one dominant male often rules over each feeder and chases other males away. We changed the sugar water weekly to make sure it was fresh and we use feeders with bee guards. We've had some trouble in the past with ants getting inside the feeders so we now hang the feeders on water-filled ant traps.

After a summer of having many hummers every day, we noticed a little over a week ago that they have all disappeared. It happened almost overnight. We've kept the sugar water fresh, but they haven't returned. Am I correct in assuming that they have likely migrated for the winter? Interesting how they all left at exactly the same time.

[Pepper]

I haven't had much traffic at my feeders this year, but the hummers just love the blossoms on my hibiscus plants! Just yesterday I saw a lone hummer drop by for breakfast. This is the right time for them to begin heading south, and usually they disappear nearly overnight, so I'm not surprised you suddenly don't see any. Leave the feeders up anyway, because you'll get some traffic as those which were farther north start coming through this way!

[Rattlesnake Gal]

At this time of the year it is more likely that you have attracted yellow jackets. The difference between the two is in how aggressive they are. Honey bees are docile and present only a minimal sting hazard. Yellow jackets are quite prone to stinging and will even chase the hummingbirds away.

Homemade Yellow Jacket Traps:
--Suspend a piece of fruit over a pan of soapy water, only an inch or two above. It helps if the pan or container is broad and shallow and for some reason, colored yellow. The wasps fly erratically, and if they drop into the water, the soap breaks the surface tension, so they can't "tread" on water to the edge of the container to escape. They drop in, sink, and drown.
---Plastic clear pop bottles with the tops removed and a 50:50 concentration of frozen apple juice concentrate, water, and a few drops of soap will have the same effect. Screw the lid on and dispose the bottle after a few days.
--Take a plastic gallon milk jug. About halfway up the jug, cut down slits into the jug and about 3/4 of an inch across and petal the edges inwards. Next, poke a hole, very small, into the bottle top. Feed a wire into it. Now, bend the wire, and jab a piece of salami, if they are still in the meat-seeking mode, or fruit onto the wire. Suspend the wire over the same mixture of juice, water, and soap, within an inch or so of the soapy juice solution. This can also be placed at ground level or suspended from grapevines, bushes, or fruit trees where the yellow jackets are most active.
--If you can, eliminate the fertile female in the spring, no later than May with the above traps. You can also use a piece of fresh meat that time of the year as a lure. If you do use meat, be sure that you change the bait every few days as Yellow Jackets, including the fertile female, will not be attracted to decaying meat.

Link to another good homemade trap. You will have to scroll up to the top of the thread.

Gardens Alive Yellow Jacket & Wasp Trap Excellent site for all sorts of things.

Leaving feeders up will NOT influence when healthy Ruby-throated Hummingbirds migrate south. Take most down by October1st, but try leaving one up until Thanksgiving (or even later if you can keep the mix from freezing); stray hummingbirds from the western U.S. may wander in and stay all winter (see Winter Hummingbird Research).

[lakegirl]

Here is another question for you.... we have a woodpecker that thinks our house is his tree.... any suggestions?????

[Rob]

Originally Posted by lakegirl

we have a woodpecker that thinks our house is his tree

There are most likely two possibilities-

1- You have some sort of bug infestation, and the woodpecker is hungry . In which case, you owe the woodpecker a debt of gratitude as the problem might otherwise go undetected for years, and repairing wood boring insect damage is not cheap.

2- The woodpecker is hammering for territorial reasons. They tend to gravitate towards whatever makes the loudest noise when they hammer on it. (I thought that it was only the 'Big Boaters' who 'need to draw attention to themselves'. See, it's instinct! It's a natural thing! ) (I'm only repeating what I read on the forum, of course.)

To stop the woodpeckers, you can use the same kinds of things that people use to stop seagulls and other birds- streamers, those fake owls, an old CD on a string will spin around and reflect, or even (I have heard) a mirror placed where they peck the most.

If the pecking is one big hole, (and especially if it is not on wood, but metal, which is very noisy), that's more likely to be a territory thing. If the holes are smaller, but spaced closely together, you have a bug problem, and you want to adress it asap.

If you google woodpecker + damage + house, I'm sure you will find plenty of info.

Hope this helps.

Rob

[Outlaw]

Had the same woodpecker at my house. Thought the corner board was a tree -- I had the Audobon folks here about it and another reason that Woodpeckers may use your house as a tree, it the area they are using emits a sound, like bugs do and that is what attracks the wood pecker. This 'sound' can be caused by the electrial wiring. So if there is electrical wiring on the inside of the house in the area where the bird is pecking, this could be a reason. My house is 200 years old, so anything is possible

[SIKSUKR]

Boy that's one busy woodpecker!He was at my house last year and did some pretty extensive damage.He/she pecked about 20 3/8 inch diameter holes all over the north side of my house.The siding is cedar shingle and the bird stopped when it got through the cedar and to the plywood.I never saw any sign of bug infestation.After about a week of that bird waking me up in the morning,he was gone.No clue what the attraction was. SS