I had a hummingbird moth in my garden yesterday. Strange little creature . . .

I'm pretty sure it was a real hummer, but I was about 30 yards away without binocs. I saw in the bird watching forum that there were hummers in the DFW area by April 13th. I did see a larger gray moth in my garden the last few days that didn't ever slow down to allow me to identify. Moths, hummers, toads, and weird little bugs--I love to see 'em all.

Whoops! Just consulted the hummingbird migration map, and there were hummers reported here in OK in late March.

We've had hummers here in Love County since March. We had a warm March and they were early here this year. I have 4 hummingbird feeders and lots of flowers in bloom and have numerous hummingbirds all day long. This is the best hummingbird year we've had here in ages. Usually I see mostly ruby-throated hummingbirds, and sometimes the black-chinned or broadtailed ones, but today I had a rufous hummer at the feeder outside the kitchen window. He was a cutie.

For the last few weeks, we've also had lots of hummingbird moths.....mostly white-lined sphinxes, but also some clearwings.

Dawn

Like Dawn, we had the hummers for weeks here, but I have seen a lot more since yesterday.

I watch the map and get out my feeders up right before they are due, they sure are fun to watch..

I also have the hummingbird moths, neat little things :)
along with the monarch and tiger swallowtail butterflies.

I find that the moths & butterflies love the dianthus

I saw my first one here today. He buzzed my feeder three times, but didn't stop to drink because the cat was having dinner on the porch just a few feet away. A friend said she had them last week, but this is the first one I had spotted. I love to watch them but don't know much about their names. This one was black with a red-orange neck.

Carol,

He probably was a ruby-throated hummingbird. For the first two or three weeks, you'll mostly see the males. Then the females arrive and it gets busier.

I'll link a page that has photos of hummers common to Oklahoma. The photos of our four commonly seen hummers are at the bottom of the linked page.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Hummingbird Photo Link

It looks to be a good year here too for hummingbirds. Need to put up a few more feeders.

I got a few nice pics of a White Lined Sphinx Moth Saturday morning. It's the first time I've seen one here. Usually see the Clear Wing.

{{gwi:460401}}
{{gwi:460402}}
{{gwi:460403}}
{{gwi:460404}}

randy

Randy,

Nice pics. Usually I see the clearwings earlier in the season and don't see much of the white-line sphinx (and other types of sphinx moths too) until June or so. This year, it seems like I am seeing more of them and I am seeing them earlier.

In my yard the sphinxes seem partial to the coral honeysuckle "Pink Lemonade" which is in full bloom and attracting lots of hummers right now. As Kirts mentioned, the butterflies are focusing on the dianthus.

I think that, for whatever reason, it is going to be a great butterfly and moth year. Yippee!

Dawn

Hummingbirds are pretty good eating!

Especially in soup. But I personally prefer them fried up in an eggroll type dish.

*sighs* I reckon I have to get the feeders out now. As if I don't have enough to do. *mutters incoherently*

Little moochers. Come up here expecting a free feeding. Just who do they think they are?

Love the sphinx moths and butterflies as everyone here knows. So far, I've hand raised:

Eumorpha achemon sphinx (Virginia Creeper)
Nessus Sphinx (Virginia Creeper)
Walnut Sphinx (walnut/pecan)
Elm Sphinx (elm)
Hummingbird Clearwing sphinx (honeysuckle)
Tersa Sphinx (pentas)
Trumpet Vine Sphinx (TV)
Tomato Hornworm (manduca quinquemaculata; tomatoes/other solonaceaes)
Manduca Sexta (daturas and other solonaceae)

I love em all. I'm ready for the butterflies to start laying eggs now, too!

Susan

Dear Brother,

You can't fool me. I know that you would never eat a hummingbird....well, practically never.....you know how you get a little out of control at times. LOL

You'd better get those feeders out right now and get ready to fed them little boogers, or you'll have to answer to me. (smile) Who do they think they are, indeed? Just the cutest little birds in the world. That's who.

And, even though Mom always liked you best when we were kids, she likes me best now because I DO NOT eat hummers, not even in eggrolls, and especially not fried. (Bad for the cholesterol.) So there!

Susan,

Well, your list of who eats what certainly explains why I have so many moths (and you know that I love them all). In our acres of woods, we have tons and tons of walnut, elm and pecan trees, and a whole lot of Virginia creeper as well. I also have Virginia creeper, trumpet creeper vines and honeysuckles around the landscaped parts of the property, and you know that I grow lots and lots of tomatoes and daturas and their relatives, not to mention all the native members of the solanum family in the pastures. Oh, and then all the night-bloomers to attract them, including moonflower vine and four o'clocks too. And I have several kinds of nicotiana. So, I guess it is not a surprise that we are blessed with an abundance of interesting moths. : )

Dawn

I saw my first hummer yesterday. It flitted around the peach tree first, and finding that it was too late to get nectar there (peaches forming!!), it went to the apple trees and zoomed around there for awhile.

The little wrens are back, have been here for about a week now. They nest in little gourd houses under my grape arbor. I noticed they didn't choose the apple gourd like they usually do, went out and investigated and found a big hole broken in it. When I took it down it broke into pieces in my hands and the nest that was in there from last year was just a pile of short little sticks. So I dug out a new gourd and made a house to take it's place. It generated a lot of interest right away, but they already nested in one of the small club-shaped gourds so who knows what they will do now. They are so interesting to watch, they sing this LONG song and really put everything they have into it. When they feed they get in under my plants and hop along the ground. I've no clue what they're finding there -- maybe weed seeds or tiny insects?? This year they're a little more forgiving when I come around to work near them. Let one of the pets or another bird come around though and they're hopping around and screaming like crazy..

I still haven't seen any in our yard. :-( We have tons of honeysuckle, but it's mostly done blooming now. I was hoping it would attract them.

I put out a new feeder over the weekend. Still no signs. :-( Maybe soon?

Tisha,

I can't imagine why they haven't found your yard.

Have you asked your neighbors if anyone ever has any hummers? It seems if they are around the neighborhood, they'd stumble across your yard at some point, especially since you have feeders out. They do eat insects, and feed the insects to their young as well, so if you happen to live in a neighborhood where a lot of people regularly use pesticides, or where the city or county routinely sprays for mosquitoes, that could be impeding your insect population which might cause the hummers to go elsewhere looking for the insects they need.

We have had a whole lot of hummers here in Love County--many more than usual. I'm not seeing as many right now, but that is probably because they are hatching and caring for their young. Once the little ones begin to fly, it gets busy again. I still see them, but just not as often as I was about 3 weeks ago. The times I am most likely to see them are early in the morning, shortly after sunup, and then in the evening, not too long before sunset. I guess they are coming to the feeders for breakfast and dinner, but apparently not for lunch.

Sometimes I put up a patio mister for them and they come and either play in the mist or bathe in it. A sprinkler also will attract them.

Don't give up. Keep the feeders out and keep your eyes open. I think they'll find you sooner or later.

Dawn

I'm hoping that I just haven't been out and about during the right times of day. Ya know?

We have a whiskey barrel water feature that puts out some spray and also a pond that does the same, so I'd guess that would be useful to them.

And we have plenty of mosquitos at this point.

The only neighbors we really "know" so far, don't seem like the type who would notice a hummingbird. But, I might ask the little kids next door if they think they've seen any. I saw 2 (or the one twice) last year in September. But we just moved here in August, so with moving and everything, I didn't get a chance to just SIT outside much last summer.

I've got another feeder that leaks when it's hung, because the wind blows it around too much. I've been trying to figure out a way to "mount" it someplace, but haven't come up with a logical solution yet. Maybe Keith will figure something out.

Thanks for the help, Diane. I'll keep you posted. I hope I'm just being impatient.

I think we get the same one round every year. It appeared at the end of March and did it's usual thing: check out the hanging baskets, give the cat a good looking at then fly into the garage for a look around.

Mick,

Some of ours seem to be "returnees" from previous years too. You know, they'll sit on the same branch on the same tree (and we have a gazillion trees to pick from) or at the same point on the power line or whatever. There was one that always flew into the house when you opened a door, sat on the ceiling fan blade, and rode around and around. It did it three years straight, but not the last two years, so maybe that hummer isn't with us any more.

Dawn

I don't know if I have ever seen a humming bird. I have seen some of those White Sphinxed Moths around here though. I always thought they were humming birds.

OMG Dawn... I would absolutely die (in a good way!) if a hummer did that... came into the house and road my ceiling fan. LOL TOO cute.

Jaz would have a field day with that business going on! I'm not sure the house would be able to stay standing though. lol

Tisha,

Our cats and dogs don't get too excited about wildlife any more, perhaps because there is so much of it. They hardly ever even chase rabbits or squirrels any more, and generally don't even bother the birds.

The hardest part is getting the hummingbird back out of the house without scaring it so much that it panics. If you scare it, it retreats to a window and zips back and forth, in and out of the curtains, etc.

I just love watching the hummingbirds, and I guess they like to watch us too. They will sit on the arbor or the electrical line near the garden for long periods of time....just sit and watch, and occasionally chirp.

I hope they start coming to your yard so you can enjoy them too.

Dawn