The hummers are back! (dry, single, good)

[Colorado Rambler]

Originally Posted by Neditate

We have more hummingbirds this year than I can ever recall this early in May. I have been refilling the feeder with 2 cups of nectar every other day for the past week. Refilled with 2 cups yesterday and it was gone this morning -- today I filled it with 4 cups. This normally doesn't happen until mid June.

Originally Posted by eatsDEN

I'm in south Lakewood, west of Morrison and have been seeeing many also...

they are hitting my feeder hard too! sometimes all five spouts are occupied at the same time

I've been getting flocks of humming birds (do hummingbirds come in "flocks"?), myself. It seems like I'm fixing more food for the hummers than I am for myself!

[Neditate]

Another trip to Costco for more sugar tomorrow. I have 4 feeders up now, refilling daily. Saturday night I counted around 50 hummingbirds at dusk. Every feeder had 10 or 12 - they were sharing the feeding ports. Others were swarming around waiting their turn. They really like the cool rainy weather and there's nothing blooming up here yet.

[Colorado Rambler]

My hummingbirds have been coming in by sqadrons - never seen so many at my feeders before. Seems like every time I turn around, it's time to fix up a new batch of sugar water for the feeders. I have 3 feeders that get heavy use, plus I've had visits from Western Tangiers and Orioles - wonderful bright yellow birds! My roommate is from Maine and he's fascinated by them. Plus, I've kept my seed feeders going and have been getting visits from Evening Grosbeaks and many others. There are days when I feel like I'm living in an aviary which is just fine by me.

[Lost Roses]

A flock of hummingbirds is called a charm, a troubling, or a hover of hummingbirds. That's pretty descriptive of them! I envy all of you at altitude who are getting so many. We get a few each year but they generally don't nest at 5,280 feet but there's always the oddballs!

I planted containers of penstemons, salvia and other tubular flowers yesterday and was so tickled by the hummers sipping away at them while I was right in their midst. So charming. But then a couple of hours later the hail hit and my plants were decimated. So it's back to the feeder which they aren't too thrilled with. One sip and they're away. Is my solution not strong enough? I'm using one part sugar to four parts water.

[Neditate]

I love that... a "charm of hummingbirds"!
Sorry about your flowers
That is the correct recipe for nectar - yours must prefer the real thing. Since nothing is blooming up here yet, mine don't have much choice. They are so hungry that they perch on the feeders before I even hang them up. No fear.

[Colorado Rambler]

Originally Posted by Lost Roses

A flock of hummingbirds is called a charm, a troubling, or a hover of hummingbirds. That's pretty descriptive of them! I envy all of you at altitude who are getting so many. We get a few each year but they generally don't nest at 5,280 feet but there's always the oddballs!

I planted containers of penstemons, salvia and other tubular flowers yesterday and was so tickled by the hummers sipping away at them while I was right in their midst. So charming. But then a couple of hours later the hail hit and my plants were decimated. So it's back to the feeder which they aren't too thrilled with. One sip and they're away. Is my solution not strong enough? I'm using one part sugar to four parts water.

I like a "hover" of hummingbirds - it's so alliterative. I'm also impressed at how fearless they appear to be. They practically dive bomb me when I'm putting out a fresh batch of "nectar" for them. 4 to 1 is the standard ratio for the mix. However, I have a friend who gets all sorts of hummingbirds plus orioles and tanigers at her feeders. Meanwhile, I was hardly getting any action at my feeder even though I lived only a mile or so away from her. When I wondered why to her, she winked and said, "I use 3 parts sugar to 1one part water." I'm not going on record as recommending this, but it certainly seems to work for her, and the birds at her feeders are fat and sassy as can be.

[Neditate]

Originally Posted by Colorado Rambler

When I wondered why to her, she winked and said, "I use 3 parts sugar to 1one part water." I'm not going on record as recommending this, but it certainly seems to work for her, and the birds at her feeders are fat and sassy as can be.

One of my neighbors does that too. I have done some research and read many differing opinions.
One site says there is no concrete evidence that it will hurt them, another says this:
hummingbirds fed too much sugar can develop calcium deficiencies, muscular weakness, & bone malformations similar to rickets. Their eggs are apt to be soft-shelled & will not hatch. Some hummingbirds appear to show signs of illness resembling drunkenness when feeders contain too much sugar.
http://www.paghat.com/hummingbird.html

So I will stick to the 4:1 ratio that Audubon and all of the hummingbird sites recommend.

[Neditate]

I thought I'd revive this thread for 2016 in case anyone is interested.
I put my feeder up on April 15 before the impending snowstorm just in case. Well, we got 3.5' of snow last weekend - no hummers of course. I saw the first scout on Thursday morning. He hit the feeder for about an hour then moved on. Didn't see any yesterday but I heard them. Saw another one at the feeder this morning.

[NW Crow]

Neighbor heard her first arriving hummingbird on Thursday too. The pack of Texans are right behind.

[StarrySkiesAbove]

I put mine up today as well, my favorite birds!