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Old 08-09-2011, 09:42 AM
 
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Nice picture! I hope they can and will survive in the heat.
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Old 08-09-2011, 03:50 PM
NTT
 
Location: Houston
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Originally Posted by SouthernBoy205 View Post
Nice picture! I hope they can and will survive in the heat.
I believe this location, Houston, is on their migration route. The hummers Northerly Migration, passing Houston, is in Spring around April. Their Southern Migration, passing Houston, is in the Fall, around August and September. I forgot we're in August already. I guess, the hummers are on time with their migration route .
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Old 08-12-2011, 08:44 AM
 
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Hi, we live in Odessa. We have 4 hummer water stations around our patio and it appears to us that some of the hummers that were here in past years return year after year. They have their nests in our backyard trees. We love to watch them while we have our morning coffee. I am not sure but I think that what many people see as hummers being territorial is really just a game that they play. It looks as if the older hummers are teaching the younger hummers evasive skills that they will need in order to survive. We have two hummers in particular that we like to watch, one is a young male we call "Toughie", he is fawn colored underneath with a dark head and back and a white ring around his neck, he is about 2.5 inches long with a stubby tail. The other is a female, light grey in color with darker grey head and wings, we call her "Chatterbox" because she never shuts up except to eat. I'm glad that I found this website and other people who enjoy the hummers as much as my wife and I do...Happy bird watching :-)
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Old 08-12-2011, 12:48 PM
 
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The one we call "Toughie" is a brave little guy and he recently learned how to cup his wings and make the "bumblebee noise", lol, so now he does that every chance he gets. He has even tried it on me a couple of times. He will fly in close to me and hover while looking me over and then make his bumblebee noise and dart off to his tree. He guards "his" sugar water very closely and chases all other hummers away from his feeder with the exceptions of Chatterbox and another that we call "Bob" (short for Bobblehead). Bob is a young hummer and doesn't appear to be the sharpest pencil in the box. When the other hummers "attack" while he is feeding he just ignores them and continues to feed until he has had his fill and then makes a half-hearted attempt to chase after them.
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Old 08-13-2011, 12:32 PM
NTT
 
Location: Houston
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Floydr47, your hummers make a great story! Thanks for sharing it. I haven't had a chance to put out my feeders. I'm going to do it today but need to look for a new shady area. It's too hot, poor little hummers. The plants are not surviving well in this heat and drought. I'm wondering how much these little hummers are effected by it.

Do you have a trick to keep ants away from the hummer feeders? I used to put Vaseline around the post but in this weather, the vaseline melts quite quickly.
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Old 08-15-2011, 07:01 AM
 
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Thank you, NTT. No, we still use Vaseline to keep away the ants plus we sprinkle Ortho Ant Killer on the ground around the base of the poles that we have our feeders mounted on. If you are looking for a way to hang your feeders in a shady spot, most hardware stores carry decorative poles for hanging flower baskets outdoors...they work great for hummingbird feeders also, they can be placed anywhere, just drive them into the ground, hang your feeder and you're all set to go. My wife and I enjoy setting the clock an hour early just so we can spend that time together on the patio, right at sunrise, and watch the first hummers coming out to feed. It sure makes a great way to start the day. Happy hummingbird watching.
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Old 08-15-2011, 04:43 PM
NTT
 
Location: Houston
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Thanks Floyd. Yes, I have a few of those hanging basket posts and that's what I've been using to hang the hummer feeders. So far, I haven't seen one yet. I guess, it may take awhile for them to find the new location.
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Old 08-16-2011, 08:38 AM
 
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NTT, try some of the short hangers also. Use small feeders among your growing flowers about 8-10 inches off the ground. Some hummers are attracted by the growing flowers and stay for the sugar water that they discover in the feeders. Once they start nesting in nearby trees they will claim your yard as "their" territory and that seems to attract more hummers. Also when I am outside working in the yard I always wear bright colored shirts, red and Hawiian prints seem to make the hummers curious and they will approach very closely to check you out. I've had them come within inches of me, just remember not to make any quick movements...
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Old 08-23-2011, 12:45 AM
NTT
 
Location: Houston
723 posts, read 1,832,627 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Floydr47 View Post
NTT, try some of the short hangers also. Use small feeders among your growing flowers about 8-10 inches off the ground. Some hummers are attracted by the growing flowers and stay for the sugar water that they discover in the feeders. Once they start nesting in nearby trees they will claim your yard as "their" territory and that seems to attract more hummers. Also when I am outside working in the yard I always wear bright colored shirts, red and Hawiian prints seem to make the hummers curious and they will approach very closely to check you out. I've had them come within inches of me, just remember not to make any quick movements...
What growing flowers?!!! They're all dead! The few that are surviving are too hot to put out any flowers .

Hey, I like your idea about the Hawaii shirt. I need to try this trick out, thanx.

Guess what, I finally saw 1 hummer yesterday! I put out 2 feeders under the shade of a plant cover to keep it away from the heat. I was afraid that the hummers won't see it because it is sort of hidden. I noticed a couple of days ago that 1 of the feeder has less sugar mix than the others. I suspected but wasn't sure until I saw the little creature flew to it yesterday. I need to replace fresh sugar mix tomorrow. Will try to take some photos too as soon as this bad flue is gone . Sigh... can't believe I got the flue in the summer.
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Old 08-27-2011, 09:45 AM
 
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Rose has been using a mix of 1 cup of sugar to 4 cups of water, it seems to be what the hummers like...glad to hear that you have a hummer hanging out at your feeder...we put a mix of Texas wildflower seeds in a bed under the tree in our back yard and have been watering them with condensation from our central A/C unit, catching water in a small bucket when we shower so it all doesn't just go down the drain, and water from my ice chest when I come in from work. I buy about 20 pounds of ice per day because we have had temperatures above 100 degrees for the last 56 days (yayyy!!! we beat the old record set in 1964). When you can't use city water to keep your landscaping going you just got to get creative...the city is only allowing us to water our lawns two days per week and then only 6 hours per day...and they just raised our water rates by 20%. Sorry to hear you have the flu...get well soon.

Last edited by Floydr47; 08-27-2011 at 09:47 AM.. Reason: added a comment
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