immature hummers

[Steve Foss]

Spent the extended weekend at the family lake cabin near Bemidji.

Put fresh hummer juice in the feeder, which holds more than a liter. No red dye, just well water (high in iron, and you can taste it) and sugar. Put the fresh stuff out Thursday morning and there was so much action it was down more than an inch by Friday morning and about three inches when we left this afternoon.

We'd gotten a second feeder at a garage sale on Friday and put it out, closer to the bay window that most of us look out, and it got a lot of action too, two feet from our faces.

The most we had at one time was five hummers, four females or immatures and one mature male. The immatures are full-sized now, since ruby-throated hummingbirds are early-maturing birds (they migrate from the northern parts of their range in mid August).

It was a great spectacle.

It made me wonder of r-b hummers are monogamous. If they are, one could assume three of the hummers were this year's young, one was the adult female and one the adult male (and yes, I know "assume" makes an a$$ of u and me). If they're not monogamous, all bets are off. Anyone know the answer to that one?

[Terry Hagstrom]

Steve ,

we just built a little west of stacy and have hummers around. We set out a feeder with-out the plastic flowers on it and they don't seem too receptive of it. Also we had it hanging from the soffit on the south side of the house. Would the water be too warm for their liking?

Terry Hagstrom

Terry's Guide Service

www.fishingmn.com/terry

[Steve Foss]

I guess too-warm water is possible, bit if your only feeder is hanging off the soffit it may be too close to the house to get them to come in initially. Also, it's probably pretty high. Soffits tend to be 8 feet or more off the ground, and all the times I've fed hummers I've never put anything higher than about five feet. I don't know if that really makes a difference, but it seems to me it's a good distance off the ground without being too high. I also prefer to put the feeders in more shaded areas, though I don't know if my preference reflects the hummers' preferences. It's just the way I like it. I've seen them feed from feeders and flowers in full sun, too.

Since you aren't getting hummers where the feeder is, logic dictates moving the feeder. Got any trees that offer shade from which you could hang it? If there aren't any branches low enough, it's a simple matter to get a planter hanger like all the blue-haired old ladies use for hanging geranium baskets, the kind with the arm that sticks out and that screws into a wall or tree, and just hang the feeder from there.

And even if you don't get any hummers right away, stick with it. They'll be migrating in about a month, and I've lived in the city in places where I only had hummer action during migration in May and August.

You also don't have to bother with any of those store-bought concoctions for the hummer juice. Three parts water to one part white sugar and no food coloring works just fine. I fill the feeder receptacle with the sugar first, then add hot water from the tap until it's about 3/4 full, then shake it until the sugar dissolves (much faster in hot water) before filling it the rest of the way. I've had hummers waiting impatiently for me to hang the feeder back up and start slurping it as soon as it's mounted, no matter that it had to be pretty hot.

The kind of feeder I prefer is one with a cylindrical glass top, which holds about a liter, that screws into a red base that doesn't have flowers sticking out but has little yellow fake flowers with holes in them around the base, and there's a perching ring that runs all the way around as well. I especially like the perch, because hummers will perch there instead of hovering when they feed at least half the time, so I figure if some want to perch instead of beat wings, give them a perch. I think it only cost $15 or something like that.

Good luck.

Anyone else with advice?

[Terry Hagstrom]

Steve,

You described the feed that we have. I will move it to a location closer to the ground. The soffit on the back of the house is about 18' above the ground.

Thanks for all the info. It's a big help.

Terry Hagstrom

Terry's Guide Service

www.fishingmn.com/terry

[Steve Foss]

If I read your post right and you wrote "18 feet" off the ground, that indicates it's hanging below the roof above your second story, and so I'm sure that's high. If you have hummers in the area, likely they'll come in when you lower that baby.