I finally seeing the Hummers come to the feeder again . Saw the famale come a couple of times and hear them flying around

The hummingbirds have been draining the feeder as fast as I can fill it. This time of the summer they seem to have a voracious appetite. Probably fueling up for the journey ahead, I'm guessing. They are also visiting the jewelweed.

How can they be fuel up for there journey they leve my place in September. I did see a lot of them fly around tonight. They must be going to more flowers then feeders

The same way that bears begin to fuel up for their winter hibernation in late summer.

And some of us humans begin to pack on the fat when the weather cools down and winter looms, with the instincts saying the glacier is coming! Eat while you can!

Claire

Thank goodness I'm ready for the glacier.

These are bad pictures, but my hummers are very skittish, and my shutter finger is not very steady! A female hummingbird in the jewelweed at the back of the house. A male was feeding there yesterday, so I imagine many birds have discovered this nectar diner.

A banquet for hummers! Excellent, Sped.

I know the hummingbirds are starting to migrate and usually the second week of September they leave my house . I have four feeders up. So should I leave all four feeders up or just one I have only seen them here and there.

How about four feeders for another week, then each time you go to refill them take one down. That way you'll be able to see if three feeders are being used, then two feeders. By late September you should have one feeder still up to serve the migrants that will be passing through from farther north.

Claire

I noticed increased activity today with my window feeder I thinks it's the same hummer coming back and forth quite frequently. I'm wondering if she is fattening up in preparation for the Mexican journey.

She certainly should be fattening up for migration, but it could also be that there are fewer flowers blooming now with nectar to feed the hummingbirds so she's relying on the feeder for food.

It's really important to keep feeders up as the blooming season winds down (at least for flowers that produce nectar). Hopefully there are plenty of insects around for the rest of the hummer diet.

Claire

Thanks just refilled it today.

I think my little guys are gone for the year, but I'll keep filling them for another week or so, until my supply of nectar in the fridge runs out. The last batch of birds we had were clearly migrants, unfamiliar with the area.

Saw mine several times today keep watching nice warm week ahead.

I have two feeder up and have not see any hummers since last week should I just leave one up?when should I take them in for the season?

pd728: I believe you're in Connecticut. We're still seeing hummingbirds north of you in Massachusetts so these birds will need food when they finally head south.

I suggest you keep one feeder up at least until the end of September. There will still be stragglers and youngsters who've never migrated before coming down the pike. They may not hang around all day so you might not see them at the feeder, but it would be a kindness (and maybe a lifesaver) to provide food for an exhausted bird.

Claire

A female hummer was just at my feeder in Central Connecticut 10 minutes ago and I just made new syrup. My feeder will stay up for at least another 2 weeks. Neurotic birder or not, I want them fed.

Jane

We still have quite a lot of hummingbird activity at the feeders and flowers here in southern NH.

I had filled my feeder for what I thought was the last time when a single straggler showed up to feed the other day. It motivated me to make up a new batch of nectar for the fridge. I haven't seen another hummer since, but I guess I shall fill the feeder two or 3 times more just in case.

A report from Maine - hummers were still stopping by feeders in Bar Harbor and Casco yesterday- so keep the feeders going.

I was looking out the kitchen window this morning, thinking I hadn't seen any hummers for a few days, when one hummer zapped in and battled another one at the front feeder. I still have two feeders up, one in the front yard and one in the back. The next-door neighbor has one too.

After the skirmish, one of them gave the feeder the old up-and-down survey before sipping so I figure it's a migrant newly arrived that doesn't know the territory.

The winds are forecast to be from the south for a few days so no tailwind to expedite migration.

Claire

Claire, don't put those feeders away just yet. Got a little relaxed on keeping the food fresh in the feeders as I hadn't seen any in about a week and thought they were gone. Until yesterday I saw one possibly two at the backyard feeder, didn't seem to act like the summer ones "migrating birds?". Made fresh food right away and cleened/refilled feeders last night. Saw 3 this morning at the front feeder! Just live a few towns from you inland, maybe they will stop you're way...

I saw another one this morning, Skippy. It's good to know that others in the region are still seeing hummingbirds.

I'll keep at least one feeder up until mid-October and probably longer - the one that's easiest to fill and right in front of my kitchen window.

It's raining heavily now (lovely rain!) and I'm glad I have a clear baffle on top of one feeder.

Claire

Tmc, AMAZING video as always!!!

Please, anyone here, can you tell me where you got your bird feeders..The flat one like TMC's...........

Thank you!

My nectar has not gone down. I been charging it. But seen no hummingbirds at the feeder. I leve it up till first of October.

mikerno_1micha: Amazon.com has a lot of hummingbird feeders if you don't have a local supplier.

The HummZinger HighView is popular (I have one too).

Claire

Thank you Claire....I will be getting one come soon when I see it go on sale since winter is well on it's way.

I don't have any feeders but my husband planted a Mexican sunflower right next to a purple ornamental pea in the spring right next to our compost bin in our veggie garden. The mex. sunflower grew so big I had to bungee the sunflower to my veggie garden fence post. A bungee was the only thing that would hold it up! The hummingbirds have pretty much been visiting them hourly for months, it's incredible. I have other plants they like during the growing season but none that I can always count on seeing them at. I'll put it this way, I spend a lot of time in my veggie garden and I can't remember the last time I saw just one hummingbird while I was in it.

Have you seen butterflies as well as hummmingbirds on the Mexican sunflower? Apparently Monarchs love them.

Thanks for the tip.

Claire

Left one of two feeders up but haven't seen any in over a week and a half. However today I was watching nearly twenty turkeys peck at my lawn and was surprised to see a lonely hummer come by for a quick sip.

I still have two feeders up but, hadn't seen any hummers for about a week. This rainy morning a hummer appeared at the feeder that has a baffle over it so it can perch and feed without getting drenched.

I was curious as to how hummingbirds fly in rain and found this article.

Claire

It sounds like hummingbirds *can* fly in the rain, but prefer not to.

I finally took my feeder down for the year yesterday, not having seen a bird for 2 weeks, and that one a belated straggler. Also we've had a couple killing frosts and I didn't want the nectar to freeze and break the feeder. Probably unlikely given that sugar is an anti-freeze substance and a frost is not the same as a freeze, but it was time.

Fare thee well little feathered travelers! I'll be thinking of you, sipping on flower nectar in the Carolinas, while I'm shoveling snow here in your summer home!

I just saw a hummingbird at the one feeder I left up! I'd been mulling over whether to refill it (it looked reasonably clear) or just let it decay since I hadn't seen any hummers for several weeks

Needless to say, I quickly refilled the feeder and the hummer came back, as did a few wasps. I hope the wasps don't deter it - I couldn't get the camera up soon enough.

There's not much around for nectar unless the hummer can scrape some out of the goldenrods and asters. Lots of insects though.

Claire

October 21 and today I saw the first junco, and I JUST SAW A HUMMINGBIRD!

I was sitting on the deck where the screen doors are propped up to get rained on before I put them away (if It really does rain) and a hummer flew up and down the doors checking them out. Maybe it was looking for the feeder that used to be hanging from the deck railing.

I still have one hummingbird feeder up at the front of the house although I've been thinking it's almost time to swap it for a suet feeder. The nectar was still pretty clear bur I just replaced it again. At this rate the feeder will stay up until a freeze is threatened. I wonder if hummers eat popsicles.

Claire

October 23 and another hummer! He showed up in the late afternoon and has been visiting the feeder, taking about 5 sips and zipping off somewhere, maybe fueling up to hunt bugs. I've seen him multiple times but not long enough to get a picture. I finally bit the bullet and held the camera focused on the feeder zooming in and out so the camera wouldn't shut down, and finally got a mediocre shot just to show I'm not crazy. It's getting late and the sun will be setting in a few minutes so the light levels are low.

I'm thinking the last stragglers are hugging the coast because it's warmer than the inland route. He'll probably spend the night here, fuel up in the morning, and head south.

Claire

edit note: I also posted this on the Birds and other mobile features... thread.

I saw a hummer again this morning, October 24, probably the same one as yesterday, and he looked bouncy and energetic as if the sugar was working. He made multiple trips to the feeder in the morning, but the last time I saw him was at about 1:30 PM so he may have headed south.

Looks like a juvenile male.

I'm still finding it hard to believe a hummingbird was here so late in the season.

Claire

Correction: I just saw a hummer at the feeder at 5:15 PM so he's spending the night here.

That's amazing, Claire! I hope that he gets far enough south to have reliable food before frosts come since I don't know how many folks would still have feeders out. Have you had frost yet?

I've taken down my nectar feeder but I still have a dollop of grape jelly out in a little holder. I think other birds are eating it, which I don't mind. It was washed out in the rain Sunday, but I replenished it yesterday & again this morning. No hummers seen by me since late August, but just in case an odd one is still around....

We haven't had any frosts yet, NHBabs, but the temperature dipped to about 37degF early this morning and is forecast to be in mid-thirties tonight and tomorrow night before warming up a bit later in the week.

According to eBird, yellow-bellied sapsuckers are still around so the hummer can get nectar equivalents if it can find a sapsucker making tree wells. (eBird doesn't show any ruby-throated hummingbirds here since October 2)

eBird map October 2016 of sapsuckers

barrett001: I often wonder if hummers will eat jelly but I only see wasps and raccoons eating it now.

The hummer made it through the night and I saw him this morning:

I'll refill the feeder this afternoon and I'm considering upping the concentration of sugar a tad (I've read that's OK during migration to give them more energy).

Claire

The hummer is still here (unless there's a new one, which I doubt - how many reality-denying hummers could be expected in one yard?).

This morning, Oct. 26, 2016:

Last night/early this morning the temperature hovered around 33 degF - Tonight will be similar or a little warmer and then there's a modest warming trend coming for the next week, with temps in the 40's.

How do you tell a juvenile male hummer "Kid, you've gotta move out! Summer's not coming back for a long time - it's time to go south before it gets really cold and the feeder freezes up!)

There is a complete hummingbird food, Nekton Nektar Plus, but I really don't want to go that route. The stuff is expensive and spoils quickly and would need a special feeder. That's assuming the hummer could survive cold nights, which is unlikely.

Here's hoping he leaves soon. I've thought that maybe I should have taken the feeder down earlier so the hummer wouldn't stop here, but I'm glad he's gotten some food and time to fatten up before he flies to warmer climes.

Claire

He's still here today, October 27. Daytime temps around 50 - 60F and nighttime temps forecast 40 - 50F for the next week. Winds aren't that favorable for tailwinds blowing to the south.

As far as non-nectar food (protein, etc.) there are reports that hummingbirds are known to occasionally eat suet. I do have a suet nugget feeder up and the nuggets are crumbly so perhaps the hummer could lap up the fine stuff.

I hope he's gone south by Halloween.

Claire

Someone posted this on Facebook. Exceptional Hummer

That looks like like Ruby-throated, but just in case, read the article please, Claire.

Thanks, Jane, I emailed the gentleman. I don't think the hummer is other than a ruby-throat but I could be wrong.

Claire

Here again this morning, Oct.28. He visited the feeder and then preened a bit in the nearby rugosa rose.

He seemed to wipe his bill on the stem.

Claire

We had one or more rufous hummingbird(s) here some years ago for a year or two. In retrospect, realizing that these birds are rare here in New England, it was most likely a single bird which kept the native hummers away from the feeder. They are purportedly more aggressive than ruby throated hummingbirds and will monopolize a feeder. It was a male with a sort of dotted orangey red pattern on its throat, as opposed to the typical solid red throat patch of a ruby throated. They look quite similar otherwise, except I remember that the rufous bird had a slight tinge of orange in some places on his green plumage when the light hit him a certain way. Then the bird disappeared and the ruby throated hummers reappeared, so I'm guessing that something must have happened to my rufous bird.

At the time I did not realize that my state is far off the map for rufous hummingbirds. I had been on a forum where a person in NYC reported seeing only rufous hummers at his feeder and spotting ruby throated hummers only infrequently, so from that I assumed rufous birds were typically found in this area. This person may have been mistaken about the type of hummingbirds he was seeing, or it might have been another rogue bird or several, like that that came to my feeder.

You were lucky, spedigrees, to see the rufous hummingbird, even if you didn't know it at the time. The first year I was watching birds here I saw a couple of white-crowned sparrows which I identified with a guide book, and didn't think much of it. I didn't have a digital camera then and didn't get photos. It wasn't until several years later that I realized that they're very rare here. I haven't seen any since, but I confirmed on eBird that white-crowned sparrows had been seen in my area that one year.

I got an email from the ornithologist mentioned in the article and he confirmed that my hummer is a ruby-throat. He said the hummer would probably move south at some point so long as he's healthy (which he seems to be). Some hummingbirds are just programmed to migrate at different times.

He also strongly recommended that I just continue to feed the normal summer mixture of sugar water and forget about fancy additives. He said there are cold-hardy insects around so the hummer can get protein. I could rig up a heat lamp to keep the nectar from freezing but that probably won't be necessary.

If he's nicely fattened up he can fly 600 miles in 24 hours which should get him to a much warmer place quickly. I'm glad now that I kept the feeder up - he's had a week to get refueled and plump and ready for a long flight south.

I finally got a full frontal view this morning with flashes of ruby in his throat gorget.

Claire

I asked the ornithologist/bander, Scott Weidensaul, if I could quote from his email(s) here and he had no problem with it.

spedigrees: You might be interested in his website http://www.scottweidensaul.com/hummingbirds/ which has a wealth of information on the recent movement of western hummingbirds, like the rufous, which are now beginning to appear in the East and Southeast. It sounds like you may see more of them in the next few years.

In regards to ruby-throated hummingbirds that may be late to migrate, and the concerns people have as to whether to keep feeders up, he says:

"I agree, looking at your photos, that the bird you have is a ruby-throat, and likely a hatch-year male based on the throat stippling. Within any population you get some birds that are programmed at the genetic level to migrate exceptionally early, and others whose instinct is to stay north as late as possible. This one could be in the latter group, or he could have something physically wrong with him that's preventing migration. Impossible to say, even sometimes examining the bird in the hand.

One thing to understand is that your feeder is not somehow preventing this bird from migrating -- after all, if that were the case, we'd have evening grosbeaks and purple finches all summer at our seed feeders. I strongly urge you not to try any fancy nectar mixes -- just stick with the normal 4:1 water/white table sugar mix you use in the summer. As in summer, this bird will find plenty of insects, which comprise 60-70 percent of hummer's normal diet; there are a lot of cold-hardy midges and such even on cold days. Don't waste money on Nekton, and for the sake of the bird's health, don't try "supplementing" nectar with things like fish food and other garbage that people sometimes add to the mix. It will get a balanced diet naturally.

If you're concerned about the feeder freezing up, you can easily rig a heat lamp with a 150-watt PAR/38 outdoor flood lamp in a utility hood, positioned eight or so inches to the side and above the feeder. We use that setup a lot with western hummers like rufous, Allen's and calliope that are increasingly common in the East in late fall and winter.

In all likelihood he'll move on, but if he doesn't (or, more likely if he stays, can't) there's sadly not a lot you can do for him. Rubythroats lack the ability of many western species to go into deep torpor at night, but they can take temps down into the low 20s and and upper teens, and are hardier than people realize. But I'd trust his instincts to kick in eventually -- and with a full fat load from tanking up at your feeder, he'll be able to fly roughly 600 miles nonstop in about 24 hours (the same distance and time span rubythroats cover crossing the Gulf of Mexico), which can get him quickly to a warmer environment. Quite a few are now overwintering in the Carolinas, so he may even be one of those hardy birds."

This is a lot to add onto a Spring Migration thread but I hope some of you will be interested.

Claire

Thanks for sharing that info, Claire!

Well, the laggard hummer seems to have moved off! I last saw him early Saturday morning, Oct. 29, and I haven't seen him since (today is Oct. 31 - two days later). It was the start of a warming trend with high pressure and nice weather all the way down the eastern seaboard and hopefully it was good flying weather.

I like to think he's now in a warm place with lots of good food. Maybe he'll stop by on his way north next spring.

I'll keep the feeder up for a while just in case.

Claire