I believe the tiny male and 2 females were the young ones from last august, since the male both times loves to perch on the clothes line, as where none of the others have done that.

Hi, Shimmer. I think you're right on all counts :)

Yes, some of them are young ones from last August-- the books say they come back.

Yes, I think the females are nesting and the males are busy guarding territory.

Yes, you were right to put your feeders up early this year, because they are out there. The books say multiply the number of hummers you see at one time x 5 and that's how many are really out there.

Some of them may have been passing thru, but some are really out there. I don't know how your feeders are situated, but it's unlikely you can watch them all the time, and the likeliest thing is they are coming when you happen not to be there.

This morning out of the blue I looked up and there was a hummer feeding. She stayed for a long time, then looked up and saw me watching and flew off. She's probably been there dozens of times without me seeing her.

Yes, I think you'll have an explosion of hummers in a few weeks when those babies turn into teens and start chasing each other around your feeders. That happens here in MO about the end of June, early July. In MI you are a week or two later.

Enjoy!

so I thought maybe I was just missing them, but nope. I had 4 in total for 3 weeks. 2 males and 2 females. I named the main male Flybye hehe because he was so quick. The other male didn't stick around long because Flybye was having no part of sharing his girls or the feeders. The friendlier female I named Dotty because she had a white round dot below and right above her wings. The other one I named Ditsy because she looked drunk all the time. I watched these 3 come on and off all day long for 3 weeks. When the male vanished I continued to see The 2 females for a bit, and they grew very round and plump, then poof both disappeared. I saw Dotty twice on June 11th all skinny, then nothing again. I thought maybe you were right about just not seeing her, but I set up a web cam recorder, and nope. Nothing. My yard is long but not wide so I can see all of my feeders. I do have a elderly neighbor who has a huge 70 ft by 20 ft garden surrounded by hundreds of flowers. They all bloomed right before the hummers disappeared, but I'm only maybe 100 ft from her yard, would they just stay in her yard maybe because it has nectar and lots of bugs? I have bugs and a garden too but much smaller than hers. I know Dotty just wasn't passing through because I seen her after she'd been missing for 3 weeks. It's now been 2 and a half weeks. No hummingbirds. I'm very frustrated because my moms are at her house all summer. And I followed hers a bit they nest over 100 ft from her feeders across a field. I'm guessing I'll have quite a few come august, I'm just really bummed.

It is a bummer, shimmer, so disappointing that they stopped coming. But I do hope you get quite a few in August, and get the ones you had coming back next year, too.

I've been going several days without seeing any, and the feeders even look desolate as tho no one ever came there, and then I'll see one. So I may be missing them, or they may be moving on and being replaced every so often. Just can't know.

Lots of people's hopes are running a little thin right now. But Im holding out for lots of them very soon, in August if not July.

Good luck. Do let us know when they come back!

Is there any possibilty the feeder may be "foul" in some way?
Or the juice?

Thanks. I just have to be patient. My August ones will be back. I'm gratefull that at least this year I'll get spring and fall. Maybe next year I'll get a summer.

Oh one more question, is it common for a migrating hummingbird to stop up to 3 weeks somewhere then continue south? Or do they just pitstop along the way not staying long in one spot?

I'm good with my feeders. It's the same ratio, only difference is I clean and refresh more because it warmer now.

It could be that the male has found a feeder closer to the nesting area, there are so many scenarios in the city, they may be just down the street?
This is my first season with my own feeder, but my neighbor has had two feeders for several seasons, now he's accusing me of stealing some his birds saying they are like a lot people he knows, they like the new shiny feeders. We are just cutting up, he still has more hummers than I :) I've have never had so much fun, something new every week.