I replaced the dripping hummingbird feeder we had with a new one earlier this summer and it’s been a big hit with the neighborhood hummingbirds. Apparently there was a nest of newborns about the time the new feeder went up and it was really great to see little half-size hummingbird babies feeding 3 at a time. There’s always one bully though that chases the others away when they try to hop on but for the most part they’ve been pretty cooperative. That might be a stretch because it’s not unusual to look outside and see them dogfighting and divebombing the feeder area.
I had googled how to make the mix because they were using it up so fast and the mix is 4 part water to one part sugar so I fill the measuring cup with a cup of water and then add the sugar so it goes to a cup and a quarter, don’t add any coloring and they’ve been going through that every 2 days.
One problem lately was the hornets were taking over and actually chasing the birds away when they came to feed so again I googled the pertinant info and came up with this solution; Just move the feeder a short distance away and the bees (hornets in this case) probably will think it’s been removed period and go away. It said this works because insects aren’t really that smart. I was doubtful this would work but I only moved it about 2 feet away and it worked like a charm. It’s been over a week now and the hornets still haven’t figured it out!
Most of the hummingbird feeders have plastic flowers. I don’t know why, but its a separate purchase to get bee excluders. This is just a plastic screen that fits over the end of the existing nipple, but makes the water too far for bees, wasps, hornets et al to feed, but is still close enough for the hummers.
I know most people have just gone with the convenience of using granulated sugar, but does anyone know if it would be more beneficial to use fructose instead?
On the few sites I checked out that’s what they tell you to use; regular sugar that is. --They do have some hummingbird feeders with a different kind of ‘flower’ or whatever that the bees can’t access…or maybe also the screens you’d mentioned.
I was down at my dad’s a couple of months ago and had bought him the same feeder i ended up getting. The other day I was talking with him on the phone and he says ‘you know that hummingbird feeder you hung on the patio? well I was putting some splenda in my coffee and thought i’d give that a shot in the feeder and the hummingbirds wouldn’t touch it!’ (my dad’s 87 so I have to think what would normally be pathetic is par for the course) So he continues ‘so then I repalced it with sugar in the water and they came back’ I said ‘oh good dad, uh how much sugar did you put into the water’ He says ‘oh a couple of spoonfuls’ so I’m telling him that might kill the hummingbirds because they think they’ll be getting enough calories but only mostly water…so I’m hoping he gets that together and it isn’t really another symptom of old age cheapness like cutting out the cable and hooking the roof antenna back up.
HA! (i mean LOL, fogot this is the internet) that’s right. So will people who are able to pick up antenna signals, like those in the SF bay area within range of sutro tower for instance, be able to get digital signals at all without cable? …special kind of rabbit ears or something? Maybe i’ll have to get him the cable hooked up as a Christmas gift…he’s not poor really, in fact i’m the one who would qualify for that, but just miserly in his old age…wait a minute actually he’s always had a touch of that! -----in fact I was dubious that the few spoonfuls of sugar in the hummingbird feeder was just ignorance!
No, rabbit ears and such can only handle analogue signals, which are supposed to terminate in Feb. '08. To receive and translate a digital signal your choices will be cable, satellite, or phone line. Yep, there is technology available (though not distributed yet) to use the phone lines much like cable tv, but since it terminates only at your address, there are all sorts of very customized features planned. I expect this will be rolled out in the next few years in the US, long before we ever get a whiff of it here.
I also suspect there will be the usual American luddites (apparently almost half of the American public rejects the theory of evolution) who will insist on maintaining some sort of analogue broadcast signal for a while, just to be ornery, but all the money is going digital.
…I didn’t think though that when that happens people will have any choice i.e. won’t they just stop broadcasting the analog signal? That’s funny, but not necessarily in a humorous way, about America. Sometimes this country reminds me of Dickens’ opening line of A Tale of Two Cities except in this case it would be ‘It was the most modern of times, it was the most backward of times’ ---------(double post mistake there a minute ago; speaking of antiquated systems we went from C. cable to SW dish to save a few bucks and it’s been quite a bit slower loading pages.)
Yes, a person will need a HD antenna and either a converter box or a HD ready TV. I get HDTV on my computer with a USB device, and an antenna. The antenna cost $25 and works better than the rabbit ears do.
In any case, odds are they will push the deadline back again. There are some rumors that each household will get coupon good for one free or low cost converter box for their analog TVs. It is such a mess, that again, the date is likely to be pushed back.
It was weird, but in the middle of the summer all the birds seemed to disappear from my feeders. I haven’t noticed this in prior years, but through most of July (record-breaking heat) I had few sparrows, finches, jays at my regular feeder and no hummingbirds at their feeder. But in the past 2-3 weeks they’ve all made a return and are gobbling up everything I put out. I love to watch the hummingbirds. I’ve got several species visiting my feeder–boy are they feisty little buggers! They dive bomb and bicker. Very entertaining.
I use the 3 parts water to 1 part sugar also–I boil 3 C of water with a C of sugar and it fits my feeder perfectly.
Actually though I’ve been using 4 parts water and 1 part sugar…at least that’s what i read although maybe some people recommend different ratios. —so if i was using 3 cups of water it would be 3/4 of a cup of sugar; don’t know how important it is to stick to that or if there’s different opinions…??
The hummingbirds now have become used to me taking the feeder up and down and just being in the yard. At first they almost seemed somewhat aggressive toward me as if they were divebombing me for being in their territory but now they’ll sit on the feeder and look at me and even let me talk to them while they feed…not that I’m out in the yard talking to hummingbirds or anything!
Did a little checking and my memory was not serving me well (surprise, surprise). It’s 4:1 - 4 C of water with 1 C sugar…and NO red food coloring.
I’d love to take some photos of the birds at my feeder; however, whenever I’m sitting on my porch, they invariably feed at the opposite side of the feeder. I could get some nice shots of tail feathers if you’d like.
That’s right, you guys don’t have them across the pond, do you? They’re strictly a New World group of birds. Oh poor Cass! I know you would love them.
David Attenborough has a great series of DVD’s called “The Life of Birds” which has a wonderful section on hummingbirds-- all the way from itsy bitsy teeny tiny ones barely bigger than insects, to whopping huge ones that live in the Andes mountains.
