Glad you are having lots of hummers.

Holy moly! :)

You have some hungry birds. Couldn't help but notice that it was early morning. They must have been having trouble finding food on migration, because that isn't exactly normal behavior for ruby-throats. I can't help but wonder how many you'd have if you put out more feeders. Cups of sugar water with something bright floating in them would probably also work. You almost have to think that these were the lucky ones, they found you. Has it been really dry in your area?

Wow I would be running to Kmart and buying the cheapies that are on sale right now to help them out!

Well I did go to Walmart to get another feeder, but they were out of the same kind I have now (I've had bad luck with other types in the past so I want another one that's the same). I'll be near another Walmart this week so I'll check there. I'm not sure if I'll have TIME to keep them full though. I used to make 2 cups of sugar water and refill it once a week. And then it was only because it had been sitting there. I am going through 4 cups in less than a day now.

wardw - Yes, it has been dry around here, no doubt contributing to the swarm. It has made them brave too - I sat down just holding the feeder in my lap and they still came up and drank!

I'm so excited for you. I too have one or two that visit and only a couple of times have I seen two at once so I can sure relate. The cliche "died and gone to heaven" comes to mind when I read your story and saw your photos.

Enjoy!

I had the same thing happen several weeks ago, isn't it fun?

One week the resident nine were sipping a gallon every ten days or so. The next, I was furiously mixing up at least a gallon a day and dashing around trying to keep all the little feeders filled, waiting impatiently for decent 32oz feeders to come by UPS. I ended up with extra 32oz cheapies from Walmart because they kept emptying the smaller feeders in just a few hours.

I'd guess an extra 20 - 30 migrants were here on any given day, then - poof! - they were gone. It's impossible to say how long the individuals chose to stay before moving on, but it was obvious there were new arrivals constantly because of the almost daily observations of unfamiliarity and confusion on how to use the various feeders.

I think a series of chilly nights sent them looking for warmer weather, but the crowds persisted for about a month in all. The residents are still here, though, and it will be sad not to hear all that chattering and chirping in the trees some morning soon.

gklee, I've had three consistently until today. Must be Katrina refugees, but they seem to be gone!?

Hope they don't know something I don't.

Wow Gklee look at all that traffic!
Congrats on your attracting this migration it looks like loads of FUN!
-stephen

Well for those of you enjoying this windfall, I have read many times on this board that once they discover you, they will be back along with all their friends and relatives. Don't forget to mark your calendars so you can report your own scientific data next year after the little hummers spread the word!

Wowsers!!! How exciting. I would be so elated if that were to happen at my feeders. Perhaps they're filling up their tanks before migrating on south, ahead of this bad ol hurricane headed (?) our way in Texas. Stay safe down there Glenn (hope you evacuate) and that your house is fine after it passes thru.

I'd say they are getting ready to flee the storm also.
I hope all of ya'll in Rita's path do likewise.

Lee

Pray tell; is that some kind of salvia bushes in the background? If so, are they feeding there at this time also?
Seriously, I would say that you live along a major RT trapline and are now seeing the benefits of doing so. I wish my visitors would be so cooperative as to fed from one feeder without all the dog and cat fights. I can't get that many birds at the same feeder at the same time, I have to spread them out all around the house in order to keep 5 or 6 aggressive territorial birds from hogging up all the juice. Great hummer pics, I am envious!

Jim Y - Yes, that is a mixture of salvia greggi and salvia coccinea and they have been drinking from those as well, but not nearly as much as the feeder.

As to the territorial nature, the hummers I have had in the past have all been exactly as you described...I remember how amazed I was when I actually saw two feeding in harmony at the same time. The mass numbers seem to have changed that behavior since if they want to drink, they will have to share. A few times I have noticed one trying to chase others away, but as soon as he does, 3 others take their place so it's pointless. At times there are two drinking from the same "port" and one is actually sitting on the back of the other, which also nearly blew my mind.

Do you ever feel like your one goal in life is to get a good photo of these little beauties? And to think I'd never even seen one until a couple of years ago!!

gklee - You take care and stay safe thru the next few days!

Ditto NavyMom! And thanks for sharing the pics! My dad (when he lived in NM) would occasionally get swarms of hummers like that to his feeders--he eventually had up around 10 perky-pet type feeders and would fill them all daily. It was amazing that somehow they'd overcome their natural aggressiveness.

The resident female is still here agressively protecting 'her' feeder and flowers. The insane season has not arrived here as yet, I guess that they are waiting for the hurricane season to end before crossing to Cuba.

Here is a link that might be useful: Local bird

I know of other regions in the country that attract this number of hummingbirds to their feeders but is this type of behaviour common for Texas? I am only a few hours away from Houston and I could only dream to have a sight like this in my yard. But who knows? I do seem to attract more hummingbirds this year than in the last few years since I started so maybe the word is getting out that I have a great yard :) Let's just hope and pray Rita is keeping our birds safe and sound!

Agatha
Dallas, TX

Wow - I'm jealous. Up here in Michigan I'm lucky to have 1/2 dozen a season. I'm hoping to improve that by planting more hummingbird friendly flowers. I hope all of you southerners faired well through the hurricanes.

Hey Janie W. I'm over here just north of Muskegon. I think I must have had about 30 when migration started, other than that I think I only have 6 to 8 throughout the season too. This is my first year birdwatching and having a hummer feeder and I have enjoyed it so much. I went and got all the hummer plants I could when Lowes had them all on sale a couple weeks ago. From now on I will be planting for the birds. Now the trick is going to be what to plant for the birds that the deer won't eat. Any other Michiganders have any good suggestions?
Lisa

Hey Lisa! I'm not sure about the deer, but you can't go wrong with Lady In Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea Lady in Red). It reseeds like a mug too!

Then set up a bunch of Cigar Plants (Cuphea ignea) in hanging baskets and a Firebush (Hamelia patens glabra) or two and you'll be a Hummer's best friend.

Traditionally I always include Trumpet Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens magnifica) too, but I bought 6 new ones this year and they're all sickly and only one is still producing blossoms.

And if you happen to find it, Koralle or Gardenmeister Fuchsia is another welcome addition.

I always like to draw a landscape blueprint of my entire yard and mark off where the plants will be.

Speaking of reseeding, I should throw a HummerParty and invite folks over. The Party Gift would be as many seeds as you can pick. That'd sure make my job of dead-heading a little easier! HA~ King Cupheaphea.

I'm on the SW side of Houston & have a lot of Hummers now too, they were not around much until recently.
Favorites in my yard are Cypress Vine, Cardinal Climber, Turk's Cap & Robert Kemp Canna - they also spend time at the feeders.
Hard to stay out of their way when I'm outside & I'm loving it!

What wonderful pictures. I'm happy if I can get 2 hummers in the same photo!

Ginni

We've had a deluge of hummers too in the past few weeks, but they are sadly all gone now. I enjoyed the protecting dancing that two hummers would do: meet beak to beak and fly upwards together until one would give up and fly away. This happened over and over. I wish I had THOUGHT to hold a dish of sugar water in my lap to attract them, that would have been so special to experience. My elderly folks have one of those feeders right on their window and so they get to see the birds up close; I'm glad I found that type of feeder for them.