Any Hummingbird/bird "experts"? (Denver, Center: flat fee, buy, woodpecker)

[Swampy101]

So, we've been here almost two years, pretty much missed the hummingbird season our first year here as we got here late in the season, but put a couple of feeders up and got 3 or 4 hummers to hang out for a while. The second year, last year, we had 7 feeders up and had almost 40 hummers all season long.

I could swear I heard a hummer yesterday evening, but didn't see it.

I've been looking for a hummingbird specific forum for Colorado, but haven't found much and most seemed be focused on the midwest and east coast.

I've been told that April 18th is the day to put the feeders out as well as the "end of April". Anyone else have any ideas? I was thinking about putting just one feeder out today, trying to catch the scouts and increase the numbers that we had last year.

[suzco]

Originally Posted by Swampy101

So, we've been here almost two years, pretty much missed the hummingbird season our first year here as we got here late in the season, but put a couple of feeders up and got 3 or 4 hummers to hang out for a while. The second year, last year, we had 7 feeders up and had almost 40 hummers all season long.

I could swear I heard a hummer yesterday evening, but didn't see it.

I've been looking for a hummingbird specific forum for Colorado, but haven't found much and most seemed be focused on the midwest and east coast.

I've been told that April 18th is the day to put the feeders out as well as the "end of April". Anyone else have any ideas? I was thinking about putting just one feeder out today, trying to catch the scouts and increase the numbers that we had last year.

CSU extension (on hummingbirds) is always a good place to start for garden information.

Some more general info:
Colorado hummungbirds

[Swampy101]

Thanks Suzco. I've got the flowers and gardening stuff down, but the second link provided a little info I didn't know.

There's always conflicting information on hummingbirds it seems. when I was in California for 37 years, I never saw a Rufous hummingbird until the last year I was there, where all information says that they're all over the place.

Out of the 40 we had last year here in CO, we had one Rufous, one Caliope and the rest were broadtails, but that second link says I could see many other species. I hope to see some of these other ones this year.

[Swampy101]

Just an update, we got the first Broadtail hummingbird in yesterday evening.

[Maynerd]

Originally Posted by Swampy101

I've been looking for a hummingbird specific forum for Colorado, but haven't found much and most seemed be focused on the midwest and east coast.

Get in touch with the Starsmore Discovery Center (at the foot of Cheyenne Canyon). I know they have an annual hummingbird festival every spring, so they almost certainly have some hummingbird details specific to the region.

[Neditate]

Originally Posted by Swampy101

Just an update, we got the first Broadtail hummingbird in yesterday evening.

How exciting! I am hoping they find their way up here next week. To me, that is the true sign that spring is finally here.
When I first moved to the mountains I was told to expect them "around Mother's Day". Each year they have come earlier and earlier. In 2006 it was April 27, last year April 22. Time to get the feeders out!

[Swampy101]

Originally Posted by Maynerd

Get in touch with the Starsmore Discovery Center (at the foot of Cheyenne Canyon). I know they have an annual hummingbird festival every spring, so they almost certainly have some hummingbird details specific to the region.

Thanks Maynerd.

[Swampy101]

Originally Posted by Neditate

How exciting! I am hoping they find their way up here next week. To me, that is the true sign that spring is finally here.
When I first moved to the mountains I was told to expect them "around Mother's Day". Each year they have come earlier and earlier. In 2006 it was April 27, last year April 22. Time to get the feeders out!

Yeah, we were hoping that would be the sign of spring. Then we got nailed with all that snow yesterday/day before yesterday.

Didn't see the hummer all day. Hopefully he's still around here.

What kind of feeders do you use?

We were using one of those flat feeders along with the standard 12 ounce glass bottle feeders with the plastic bottom/flowers. We'll probably still use that flat feeder on our patio table, but the 12 ounce feeders were painful. Lots of bugs were still getting into them and they blew in the wind really easy, spilling all over the place.

Last year, I was looking for some bigger feeders and found one from Opus that is glass and holds 20 ounces. The base comes apart really easy for cleaning and has retractable feet. I bought 2 of those last season and just put them up for now and winds were blowing constantly in the 30's without any drips, but once it hit 40, we got a few drips, but those 12 ounce ones would drip in 15mph winds.

So I just bought 5 more of thos Opus feeders, should be here today I think.

Would like to see more than the 40 we had last year. Although, with 40, we were going through 2-3 liters of sugar water every day.

[Neditate]

Originally Posted by Swampy101

Yeah, we were hoping that would be the sign of spring. Then we got nailed with all that snow yesterday/day before yesterday.

Didn't see the hummer all day. Hopefully he's still around here.

What kind of feeders do you use?

I'm sure the little fella will come out today. I always wonder where they go when we get that late cold/snow. We've had them snowed upon as late as June 21 up here.

We use the 20 oz glass feeders and one of those flat ones. We have a problem with the woodpeckers pecking off the little yellow flowers so every year we buy a replacement package. We start off with one feeder then by June we have 3 out. We get a few rufous in the summer so we have to spread them around.

We received almost 9" of snow up here on Wednesday. Yesterday it snowed on and off for a few hours but didn't really accumulate. But that is "springtime in the Rockies"!

Have a good weekend -- I hope you see more hummingbirds every day.

[Swampy101]

Originally Posted by Neditate

I'm sure the little fella will come out today. I always wonder where they go when we get that late cold/snow. We've had them snowed upon as late as June 21 up here.

We use the 20 oz glass feeders and one of those flat ones. We have a problem with the woodpeckers pecking off the little yellow flowers so every year we buy a replacement package. We start off with one feeder then by June we have 3 out. We get a few rufous in the summer so we have to spread them around.

We received almost 9" of snow up here on Wednesday. Yesterday it snowed on and off for a few hours but didn't really accumulate. But that is "springtime in the Rockies"!

Have a good weekend -- I hope you see more hummingbirds every day.

Thanks Neditate. I'm just hoping he didn't move on to another area since Denver didn't get as much snow as we did (6 1/2 inches).

Huh. Never had a problem with the woodpeckers here in any way what so ever. They stick to the trees and our regular bird feeders, like they know their place.

Our feeders get the ants occasionally, when we forget to add water to the ant gaurds (home made out of the bottoms of water bottles) and we get the wasps/yellow jackets on them too. Hopefully this year won't be as bad with those though.

Have a good one too and hope you get some up there soon!