Hummingbirds 2020

[spencer rifle]

We have a female hummingbird nesting right outside our upstairs hall window. Cheap iPhone 7 camera won't take good pics, and we don't have a good dedicated camera. Noticed the nest yesterday morning - she was turning around and hunkering down to get it ready. Mostly spider webs with a few lichens. By yesterday afternoon there was one egg. Might be another today. We can also see the nest from the ground now that we know where to look.

On a related note, refilled the hummingbird feeder.


It it true that we only have ruby-throateds here. The red is structural color, and looks black unless the light hits it just right.

ETA: a pic of our hummingbird nest. Can't see the egg from this angle - it's about the size of a pea.

 

[ghitch75]

We have a female hummingbird nesting right outside our upstairs hall window. Cheap iPhone 7 camera won't take good pics, and we don't have a good dedicated camera. Noticed the nest yesterday morning - she was turning around and hunkering down to get it ready. Mostly spider webs with a few lichens. By yesterday afternoon there was one egg. Might be another today. We can also see the nest from the ground now that we know where to look.

On a related note, refilled the hummingbird feeder.


It it true that we only have ruby-throateds here. The red is structural color, and looks black unless the light hits it just right.

ETA: a pic of our hummingbird nest. Can't see the egg from this angle - it's about the size of a pea.

i have never seen a nest around here.....we have anywhere between 40 to 60 birbs a year going threw 4 quart feeders a day....i'll have to go look and see if i see any nests in our woods line.....

great pic btw...

 

[indyjohn]

Interesting information from this website: https://www.whatbirdsareinmybackyar...-i-put-out-take-down-hummingbird-feeders.html

In a nutshell, they prescribe keeping feeders in Indiana out as late as December, or two weeks after the last time you've seen a bird. And they say leaving food out will not compel them to stay and not migrate.

 

[ghitch75]

they will leave with food out.....mine have started leaving already....we where filling 6 quart feeders a day and 10 pounds of sugar in 4 days....now 2 quarts a day give it another few days and we will be down to 1 quart every couple days

one other thing i have been feeding them for 25 years in the same place and never seen a bird past first week of October....


by by birdies....

 

[indyjohn]

they will leave with food out.....mine have started leaving already....we where filling 6 quart feeders a day and 10 pounds of sugar in 4 days....now 2 quarts a day give it another few days and we will be down to 1 quart every couple days

one other thing i have been feeding them for 25 years in the same place and never seen a bird past first week of October....


by by birdies....

Dang wive's tales. Can't even believe your grandma these days.

 

[DCR]

Interesting information from this website: https://www.whatbirdsareinmybackyar...-i-put-out-take-down-hummingbird-feeders.html
In a nutshell, they prescribe keeping feeders in Indiana out as late as December, or two weeks after the last time you've seen a bird. And they say leaving food out will not compel them to stay and not migrate.

Some of our birds leave late Aug/early Sept, the rest after the first < 50° night. However, there are still migratory ones traveling after that. We usually see one in late Oct, the latest on Nov 1. They're not our birds since ours all left 6 weeks earlier. So just because you haven't seen one in a while, there may be birds headed your way and they know you've got a feeder out.

 

[indyjohn]

Some of our birds leave late Aug/early Sept, the rest after the first < 50° night. However, there are still migratory ones traveling after that. We usually see one in late Oct, the latest on Nov 1. They're not our birds since ours all left 6 weeks earlier. So just because you haven't seen one in a while, there may be birds headed your way and they know you've got a feeder out.

 

[Butch627]

I have been having a lot of territorial fights as of late to the point that they are doing more chasing than feeding when I have been watching. A new wrinkle for me in the last two weeks is that after years with no wasps around my deck they have returned while I have been outside eating. They also seem to be chasing the hummingbirds away from feeding. I watched for 15 minutes a couple of times and it appears that one wasp is chasing the hummingbirds to different feeding holes on the feeder. What I am calling the wasps are about an inch long with a yellow back and black stripes, They are much thinner than a bee

 

[ghitch75]

I have been having a lot of territorial fights as of late to the point that they are doing more chasing than feeding when I have been watching. A new wrinkle for me in the last two weeks is that after years with no wasps around my deck they have returned while I have been outside eating. They also seem to be chasing the hummingbirds away from feeding. I watched for 15 minutes a couple of times and it appears that one wasp is chasing the hummingbirds to different feeding holes on the feeder. What I am calling the wasps are about an inch long with a yellow back and black stripes, They are much thinner than a bee

sounds as if you have yellow jackets.....i get them around the feeders too

 

[Jaybird1980]

We still have some females hitting the feeders, haven't seen the males that were around in a couple weeks

 

[DCR]

I sometimes get the yellow jackets inside my feeders.
I read somewhere that the males lose their iridescent neck feathers in the fall.

 

[mike4sigs]

I seen one on the Feeder Tuesday night

 

[Hkindiana]

I still have a few daily visitors

 

[tsm]

Had one at the feeder yesterday in Fort Wayne.

 

[bcannon]

Most of mine have left. Definitely no males but have 6-10 females this morning.

 

[Butch627]

Haven't seen a male in a while but now 4 yellow jackets at a time are guarding the feeder in the heat of the day and making things difficult for the hummingbirds

 

[bcannon]

Haven't seen a male in a while but now 4 yellow jackets at a time are guarding the feeder in the heat of the day and making things difficult for the hummingbirds

Im having some of the same issues. I go out and use my badminton racket to get rid of what I can. Yellowjacket count has diminished lately because of that.

 

[Jaybird1980]

I haven't seen a male in awhile. Only saw one female this week, but the feeder levels keep dropping

 

[Fawkes]

The males leave first in the fall and arrive first in spring to set up territories in their respective ranges north and south. I usually see the first male about the first of May and they are usually gone about the middle of September for me in central Indiana.

 

[patience0830]

We've been having a couple of stragglers. Hangers on, if you will. About done here.