Hummingbirds - Bird Talk.

[igor_kavinski]

Sad. Just Nature doing its thing

 

[Muse]

Finally saw a HB at my window feeder a couple days ago. So, it's not a total secret, but last summer there was a fair amount of HB activity. Still, it's a good sign.

 

[Crotulus]

The Tree Tobacco out back was pretty popular earlier this evening. This was all within about a ten minute span.

Unknown female


Male Black-chinned


Male Anna's


The Anna's hanging out with an Allen's or Rufous (not entirely sure which)...


Attack!

 

[bbhaag]

Just spotted our first one! It was feeding on a plant called Humming birds lunch. The plant is in the cuphea genus and they LOVE this thing!! Anyway, sorry for crappy pic...they are so hard to capture.

 

[Stopsignhank]

Here is some more hummingbirds in the wild. Guess these little guys like the natural stuff and not the processed food at the feeder.

https://imgur.com/a/JP5XZ1E

https://imgur.com/a/10e2LUX

 

[Muse]

I've seen a few in the wild on my every other day hikes lately, but only seen maybe 2 in the last 8 weeks or so in my yard. One was feeding at my window feeder. It's nectar's down but I don't know if it's HBs or a leak. Hoping for a revival of HB activity in the yard, it wasn't stellar last year but it was certainly active for maybe 6 months.

 

[Stopsignhank]

I have not had the activity that I had last year. I keep 2 feeders filled and they will last a couple of days. These feeders also have a limited number of uses. After about a year they start to leak and need replaced. Fine with me. Filling them twice a day got to be a bit much.

Story time. After I posed this I could not see the video move on my phone. I thought there was an issue with Imgur so I changed the posts from hidden to public. One has been viewed more than 7,000 times. The thing is, I have no idea where. I also got 15 upvotes and 3 down votes. Why the down votes? Someone have something against hummingbirds?

 

[Muse]

I have not had the activity that I had last year. I keep 2 feeders filled and they will last a couple of days. These feeders also have a limited number of uses. After about a year they start to leak and need replaced. Fine with me. Filling them twice a day got to be a bit much.

Story time. After I posed this I could not see the video move on my phone. I thought there was an issue with Imgur so I changed the posts from hidden to public. One has been viewed more than 7,000 times. The thing is, I have no idea where. I also got 15 upvotes and 3 down votes. Why the down votes? Someone have something against hummingbirds?

I like to quote William Blake. Here's one from the beginning of his most famous work, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (where he has this carved on a cliff!):

How do you know but every bird that cuts the airy way is not an immense world of delight closed to the senses five?

 

[Crotulus]

Neat little article about how hummingbird feeders in CA possibly expanded hummingbird range and morphology.

https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/former-berkeley-feeders-calif-bird-evolution-20343347.php

 

[Stopsignhank]

Well I jinxed it. They are coming back and two feeders need to be refilled once a day.

 

[Stopsignhank]

Neat little article about how hummingbird feeders in CA possibly expanded hummingbird range and morphology.

https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/former-berkeley-feeders-calif-bird-evolution-20343347.php

That is pretty interesting. Not exactly how I feel about helping a species to morph, but I figure I am just feeding the birds in my little area.

Of course the 15 year old in me noticed this sentence. (bolding is mine)

seed feeders in the UK may have caused great tits to grow longer beaks relative to those in the Netherlands.

 

[dank69]

That is pretty interesting. Not exactly how I feel about helping a species to morph, but I figure I am just feeding the birds in my little area.

Of course the 15 year old in me noticed this sentence. (bolding is mine)

Everyone loves great tits.

 

[Muse]

My window feeder looks bone dry and haven't seen a bird near it for a couple weeks. I guess it's just leaking, a Kingsyard. Bad design, the seal is just rubber in a groove. So, I went a-shoppin' on Amazon and Ebay looked at a lot of stuff, settled on this:

Kingsyard 2 Pack Window Hummingbird Feeders w/ Ant Moat, Strong Suction Cups - 8 Oz Leak Proof & 5 Bee Proof Feeding Ports $22.99

Amazon.com

By and large excellent reviews. Neat stuff:

Looks like it can't leak
A real moat to keep ants out
The moat + nectar tray lift out easily for maintenance
People say the suction cups are real good, mostly

con: Says holds 8oz but one reviewer said more like 6oz.

This kind of design doesn't allow nectar to be stored in a cylinder, so when the nectar gets too low the birds won't reach the nectar.

Got the 2 pack so I can prepare a feeder and swap with the old one any time of day. Last year I cleaned etc. the window feeder and saw a little one settle on the perch and get real frustrated because it couldn't find its juice!