Teresa, glad you decided to make a post of this. I followed that other message you left , but now I post here . Im curious as to what kind of hummers you still have . It would be hard to believe you still have rubythroats in those temps. I know rufous birds spend time in canada and alaska. It would also be interesting to know how long they do stay with you--as mine are already gone. Although there is the chance some migrators may stop by. They say to leave your feeder up at least two weeks after you see your last hummer.--Steve

The Ruby Throated pair just spent 20 minutes at the feeder. I had cleaned the feeder and put a fresh extra sugary mixture using really warm water in it. Less than a minute after I came in off the deck they were there feeding. They appeared to like the warm mixture. Then the overly agressive male showed up and chased them off. They just said on the news that we will get frost tomorrow nite. We'll just see if the little guys are still around then. I'll try to get a photo tonite before it gets too dark.

Teresa

Steve - I googled Rufous and the aggressive one I have is not that. I don't have any that look like that one.

Got some pics tonite...not of the Rubies but of the other ones. They are kind of plain looking.

I will post in the morning.

Teresa

These photos aren't very good. Take through a screen and window as it was getting dark.

The tips of the tail from the back have a little bit of white.

Not sure what species this is. Anyone?

Hi,

Given your location,it is likely a female or juvenile Ruby-throated hummer.

Hi Teresa

Its too dark to really make a judgement on the bird. Its common knowledge that female rubys have the white breast and white tipped tail feathers and a dark to greenish back. Are you saying this bird looks different from that? IF its not ruby and not rufous we need a better pic. Ive heard of similar situations of people building a shelved area with heating element for rt that refuse to leave or you could just take down the feeders. If it was me Im afraid I would not take down the feeders [thats just me]---Steve

teresa, I was afraid our hummers were gone here in NE Ohio, since I hadn't seen any for a couple of days. My husband saw a female at the feeder early this morning, not sure if it was a regular visitor, or one passing thru.

As far as your pictures go, it sure looks a lot like one of my female Rubys as far as I can tell 'in the twilight'.

Congrats! Megaul, its always nice to see another one when you think they are gone for the year.
Teresa--You can be assured thats a female rt you have. After looking at your pics again, it has all the ID markings of rt. I just hope I can be as lucky as you guys and maybe see one more before its all over.---Steve

Here are a couple more pics I got last nite.

A juvenille female it is!

Teresa-- thanks for the pics , yeah rt alright. The first pic she seems rather cold , the way shes balled up.
Teresa and Megaul-- You might be interested to know I had an adult female rt stop by this afternoon. I hadnt seen one for at least four days now, rather shocking to me , unexpected. She didnt stay long thou and I wished her a pleasant and safe journey south. This also encourages me to refreshen my feeders for any more that may pass my way and bless my day.

The one in the picture is a very agressive little bully. She sits on the top of the same tomato cage and guards the feeder. Whenever I go out on the deck and go near the feeder she flys right up to me and hovers about 18" away. I went out last nite to see if it was her and sure enough - she flew right up in my face again.

I didn't see the pair that have been nesting nearby though. I saw them on Monday. The male has a twisted feather in his tale. I think the other two pair left late last week. I only had two feeders this year. I think I'll put some up on the other side of the house next year.

teresa
Your agrressive hummer is a ruby throat. There are still folkd up in Ont. Canada who also still have hummers. They may have been late fledglings and still need to put on fat reserves before heading out. I had a late fledgling last year who was with me until mid Oct.

Penny

I still have rt Hummers at my feeder , so I keep re-filling ! want them to stay as lng as possible , or feed up before they leave ! I too am using sweeter than normal food right now .
Suz

This time of year I use 3 parts water to 1 part sugar in my feeders.

Penny

I'm in MN and had ruby throats at my feeder as recently as 1 1/2 weeks ago. It got down into the low 40s and maybe even upper 30s one morning. I kept the feeder up until this past weekend when I hadn't seen any hummingbirds for a week.

It was interesting seeing a pileated woodpecker at one feeder (suet log) and a hummingbird at another feeder at the same time. Such a size contrast.