Well, that is disappointing for you. As I am a long way from Georgia, I can`t offer much in the way of suggestions other than you don`t really need to spend money on packaged mixes. Plain old table sugar and water will do just fine mixed at a 4:1 or 3:1 ratio. I do find that the hummers definitely prefer my flowers over any feeders I have set up. Do you have any flower gardens planted specifically for hummingbirds? There are some good honeysuckles(Major Wheeler, Alabama Crimson) that are very attractive to the birds as well as many salvia species(salvia coccinea , salvia greggi for example) They may already be nesting in your area and feeder traffic really drops off at that time. Check out the thread regarding favourite hummer plants - there are lots of examples there that would do well in your area. I hope this helps you out some and good luck to you.

I agree with shilla, if you want hummers, plant as many hummingbird plants as you can. Even if they don't visit them (they will, tho), these plants are like neon signs saying "Breakfast served here all day". The more you have, the more hummers you can support, and the bigger the sign for any just flying by.

The red honeysuckle 'Major Wheeler' is fabulous for this. It is a real beauty, in bloom all summer starting with a major show this time of year. Hummers ate and hid and fought in mine all summer.

The other thing I thought of was the placement of your feeder. I couldn't be exactly sure from your pics, but it looked as tho the feeder was inside the porch and very near a window. If I were a wild creature, I'd think a long time before going there to feed if there was food anywhere else. Too close to the house, and the "inside the porchness" of it might appear to be a trap, especially with the "L" making an exit only possible in two directions.

Also very close to the house they can see any movement of someone inside. Mine are spooked by the least movement in the house, and yes they can see all the way into the room.

Try moving your feeder to the edge of the porch, or even outside the porch if you can find a way to support it.

Again, I agree with shilla, they are very elusive this time of year. You'll be very lucky to see one now and then. Lots of activity usually not until end of June, early July when the babies start competing for food, and the southward migration begins.

Good luck.

should add: again, shill is right, you don't need special feeds. Plain sugar water will do.

Also if you really want to catch them at the feeders, watch during the last hour before dusk. That is when they are more likely to come to feed, stoking up for the long night. Also the first hour from dawn, if you're up then.

Thanks for the comments. I realize now the picture does not well show where the feeder is hung. It is on the window outside our sunroom (porch) and not inside. I was not sure if the hummers would not come on the deck, but we get lots of other type birds at a feeder around the corner to the left of the hummingbird feeder.

I went to the garden store to look at buying some planters for the box below the feeder to try and attract more, but the person there said it was too shay there to grow plants that would be attractive to the hummingbirds.

The liquid level has not gone down at all over the last few weeks, so it is not an issue of missing them when they are feeding. They just don't seem to be coming.

would it be better to not be in so shady of an area? Or on the side of the house without the deck?

We would like it somewhere that is easy to reach for maintaining and easy to see from the sunroom, where we watch our other regular feeder.

I will start making my own nectar once we begin getting hummingbirds, but I did not want to risk that I was getting the mixture wrong with this first one.

More suggestions?

Thanks.

Let's hope it picks up. Not sure where to place it if the issue is its location.

It really also depends on your area. Have you wondered why you can see cardinals, bluejays, sparrows, and other birds without even trying? It's because their population is so much more than hummingbirds.

Even when you didn't try, you probably didn't see that many hummingbirds. So now that you are trying, you do have to be patient to attract them. You actually got some visitors, which is good. I have also read that different feeders will attract different birds. They do have a preference also, and that is why many plants may bring in other hummingbirds.

I actually ended up getting 2 different kinds of bird feeders. I see one bird that visits it, but he doesn't go to the other feeder, which is about 20 feet away. I am hoping that the summer months do bring in more hummingbird visitors also.

I can`t believe a garden store employee could give you such awful advice! Some good plants for a shady window box are fuchsia Gartenmeister, torenia(wishbone flower but not the yellow one), and abutilone(flowereing maple especially the orangish one with red veining). There are perennials as well but they grow much larger and do better in the ground. I hope you can find these three and give them a try.

I have moved the feeder to a different window that is north facing and nearer the other bird feeder. Still no luck, but I spoke with an employee at Wild Birds and they said that a hail storm we had a few weeks ago ran all of his hummingbirds away.

My wife wanted a lemon tree, so my hummingbird budget went to that, so I won't be buying any plants right now, but I will see if persistence will pay off.

I also read somewhere to NEVER wash the feeder with detergent. I weekly wash it with dish soap and rinse it well.

Could this be the culprit?

Thanks.

I wash my feeder in the dishwasher each time, so I don't think that's your problem.

I hate to disappoint you, but you really need a lot of patience with hummers. If you check out the posts from this time last year, you'll find several people who have been getting hummers for several years watching for them at the feeders in May and early June with no luck.

This time of year they are nesting and you really don't see them much except by chance, and maybe if you're lucky at dusk. Around July the mothers bring their babies to teach them to feed, and then you do start seeing them more often, but again most often at dusk. So swarms of hummers are a mid-to late summer and fall thing.

They're out there, but they are feeding on insects to provide the protein they need for breeding, and protecting their nests. We put out our feeders now just in case a random one wants a drink, not because we really expect lots of them to come. I actually don't see much feeder activity til late June when the agastache blooms.

To attract hummers you need also to provide water and plenty of insects to feed on. See the post about rotten fruit. Lots of hummer flowers in your yard wave a flag at them and yell "stop here", but again, don't expect to see a lot of them right now.

post about attracting hummingbirds from last year

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/1973317/please-tell-us-how-you-started-getting-visits?n=20

I recently put a 12" hanging basket of fuschia's and it's only about a foot away from the hummingbird feeder. I see hummers at the feeders about every 5 minutes, and they can also sip from the plentiful blossoms dangling from the fuschia! Change your sugar-water regularly and keep your feeder squeaky clean! Use a bottle brush to clean all parts of the feeder and ensure the moment the nectar starts to look cloudy, you take it down and wash/replace with new food. I wear a lot of red/fuschia/pink colored shirts, and am often wearing those colors when outside working. Boy, do I get the attention from the birds! I was standing at the window one day, and two hummers hovered on the other side of the glass, excited to see me! Funny thing, was that I was upstairs in the bedroom looking out and they spotted me from my bright tee shirt! Now, they know when I'm out there and truly appreciate the fresh food. (Don't use organic sugar as it creates cloudy water, and the birds will not feed. Ensure you keep your feeder mold free as that is deadly to the little beauties, too.) We have Anna's, Rufous and this year, I've seen a few Calliope Hummingbirds too! (c;

So I have moved the feeder to the north facing window as you can see from this picture taken inside our sunroom. This morning I saw 2 hummingbirds come to the feeder, look around it, but never land. The nectar never seems to drop in the feeder, so there is no sign of any use.

Here you can see the feeder on the window to the right of the seed feeder.

It has now been 5 weeks since I put this out and 7 weeks since hummers migrated into our area. I have changed the nectar every 3-5 days.

Why are they not landing? I have not used soap on the feeder the last couple of times to see if that may have been the problem.

Obviously, there are some birds around, and they appear interested.

I don't think it is an attraction issue now.

Ideas?

Thanks.

I would hazard a guess that since they have been in the area for 7 weeks, they are into nesting mode now and feeder use really drops off during that time. Have you thought about making up a couple of large planters for that bare area enclosed by the boards? Some Fuchsia Gartenmeister, Torenia(wishbone flower), Abutilon(flowering maple)and Nicotiana(flowering tobacco) would all do well in that shade. I have about 7 different feeders throughout my yard and the birds do go to them on occasion but much prefer the flowers and visit them constantly. I hope you can hang in there - they really are a marvel to have in the garden and worth the effort of feeder maintenance and planters/gardens.

I am hesitant to spend the money on the boxes if we are not going to get the hummingbirds to use the feeder. WE are not good at keeping plants alive and my concern is that it does not address the issue. Given that the birds don't even land on the feeder, I am thinking there is an issue with the feeder itself or its location. They have found it and fly around, but don't land.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/First-Nature-Hummingbird-Feeder-16-oz/22889949

This is the feeder we use. I clean it out about every 3-4 days (more often in the summer - it's cool here still - once above 75* it can grow mold quickly and will need to be cleaned thoroughly.) This feeder comes completely apart. I use a babybottle brush to clean it each time I replace the nectar. Be sure you securely tighten the lower sections together - this is a really nice feature, as you can clean the bottom reservoir easily.

Don't add nectar to an existing batch, dump, clean and refill. There is a perch for the birds to land on, and about 6 openings from which they can feed.

They will stop eating at the feeder if it becomes contaminated (perhaps they know it will make them sick!) or if they have to fight bees or ants that will take over an open container, as well.

Make your own nectar, 1 cup white table sugar to 4 cups boiled water. Dissolve the sugar in 2 cups of boiling water, stir until completely dissolved. Add 2 cups of cooled water into the container you plan to store mixture - then add the still hot sugar water. It should be plenty cool to fill your feeder.

Do not add anything else to the nectar, NO coloring or juice/honey! Keep in a covered container up to 2 wks. Discard if it begins to look clouded or if you see any black mold growing on any of your container.

It may take a bit of time for them to trust the feeder. Perhaps if you put it out further from the house at first, and move it closer every time you refill it, they will get used to the idea of being closer to the house where you can watch them easily. Hang it on a tree branch or plant hanger. Put a big red bow on it, if it doesn't attract their attention without something bright!

If they begin to feed often, jiggle the feeder to encourage bubbles that form in the reservoir to move upwards, and the bottom will refill with nectar.

Once they discover it's a safe source for food, they will be back! Give them time. The first year we put out feeders for them, we didn't get many visitors. They're here at least every 5 minutes or so, sunup until sundown. (c;

You know, these little birds appear to be pretty smart.. could it be possible they like to actually inspect the nectar above? Mine fly around and seem to notice when the nectar is cloudy - they'll pass it by. Perhaps they see no liquid above yours, and figure there is nothing there to eat? Seems a bit of a stretch, but most nectar sources are gravity fed from above. If they're accustomed to seeing what they're getting from the "average" feeder, maybe your bottom-only feeder is confusing them, so they keep on flying by.

I have 3 feeders in various locations and when one gets cloudy, it is skipped completely and the other two become their preferred source. I'm often encouraged to clean/fill the feeders at my kitchen window. They'll hover and look in at me. I've even had them do this at my bedroom window, upstairs! They know I'm the one who fills the feeders, and I sit on the deck afterwards to watch them enjoy it. (They watch me too! Put on a red tee shirt and see if you can get their attention! They love red, but don't add coloring to their food - clear nectar is what they need.) I hope you find luck soon, don't give up! (c;

Here's another good resource for information. LOTS of links at the top of the page, also!

http://www.worldofhummingbirds.com/behavior.php

The only other thing I can suggest is changing your style of feeder - you could try the Perky Pet pinch waist feeder - inexpensive but if it`s windy will drain itself. Some birds just like some types of feeders better than others.

I would definitely start planting hummingbird plants. Most are very inexpensive. Seems like you have a lot of tree cover. The color will bring them in as they fly over. There are lots of Salvias that come back every year so it would be a one time investment. I live in VA but order from Colonial Creek Farms in GA.

Thanks for all the ideas. Yesterday we finally saw a hummer land and feed!! I had assumed that the feeder that WBI recommended would be a good one, but it only holds 1 cup of nectar, which has been fine given I am throwing it away every 4 days. We may buy a different feeder if we see this one getting used more. Hopefully i can report back later that it is being overwhelmed.

Thanks.

Congratulations. Virtue and patience is rewarded! The books say there are five out there for every one you see, so keep your feeders fresh and expect to see lots more around the beginning of June when the babies appear.