Yesterday the hummers came back. I saw 5 hummers throughout the day yesterday at my feeder on my back deck. This morning i saw my first female at 5:46 am at my back deck feeder and then again at 6:02 am at my feeder at my feeder that hangs in front of my pic window,

Great, Jeff Bush! It sounds like the summer seasonal residents have moved in to your yard and will stay there until the fall.

Nary a one here, neither transients nor seasonal residents

Claire

Can you all speculate as to how many years it takes for hummers to "know" your yard, meaning they remember they can come there for some good food? Have my feeders out, no problem being patient, watching my Columbine canadensis, which are about to bloom, (but I need MANY more plants), but just hoping I can soon be on the hummingbirds' "radar."

If you had one or more last year, you should have some this year - IMHO. Buddy hasn't shown up here yet . Last year I saw him on May 3rd, so hopefully, soon. He has had a wife (or 2 or 3) and by July and August I see at least 3-4 new hummers here every year. I've been feeding and watching since 2008, and every year they and/or the offspring return.

"It is believed that hummingbirds will return year after year to the same feeders where they wore born. Some scientists believe that they will also stop at the same feeders along their route on the same day every year during their migration journey."Hummers return

I agree with Jane/corunum.

I figure that once they've found your yard (and food) they'll remember that and come back either on their migration route or for breeding. Remembering where food is is a big deal to a bird.

If a female stays and breeds, the offspring will consider your yard home and come back every year.

The unknown factor is when that first hummingbird finds your food. I don't know how thoroughly they sweep an area when they fly through.

Claire

Thank you for the information. Here's hoping that they build some nests here! I know the jewelweed I let grow on the property was a favorite, so maybe I'll have some "regulars" before too long.

I posted on Hummingbird Central https://www.hummingbirdcentral.com/hummingbird-migration-spring-2020-map.htm and Journey North https://maps.journeynorth.org/map/?map=hummingbird-ruby-throated-first&year=2020 but only Journey North added my sighting. Hummingbird Central had a notice on their page that they would not be posting everyones sightings because they are too busy.

I bought some nesting material from Hummingbird Central and have to figure out when to put it out.

Anyone have any experiences with the nesting material?

I noticed that territorial thing happening so I put out two feeders that cannot be seen at the same time so the territorial hummingbirds don't bother each other and all can feed.

Below my sighting on Journey North:

YEAH, My male hummingbird arrived yesterday! So happy. Also the Grosbeak is back yesterday and today the Orioles are here. What a great weekend.

Congratulations, Sue and Arlene! Grosbeaks and orioles too, 'tis the season.

I cleared a feeder hook for one oriole jelly feeder, but I won't put it out just yet.

Claire

Well, the first oriole showed up this morning, a Baltimore oriole (I should get orchard orioles too). I had jelly ready so I got that feeder out real fast.

Hummers should be close.

Claire

I saw my first Male Baltimore Oriole this morning around 9:46 grape jelly feeder.

Buddy is here today - May 3rd - same as last year. People were near the feeder, so he didn't stop, but flew around inspecting it. Hope to get a dated picture soon. 😊

Jane

Great, Jeff and Jane! The dreary season is really over.

Claire

I saw the first buzzbird today at about 2:30 PM. It's a female, which is unusual because the males usually come through a week or two earlier. Maybe I just missed the males this year, or maybe the nasty chilly weather backed them all up.

I'm not complaining. It's so nice to see them again. I always forget there's a hole in my yard until the hummingbirds come back and fill it.

Claire

And a half hour later a male hummer showed up. Not the clearest pic but definitely a male with a red gorget.

Claire

Good for you! Puts a smile on, doesn’t it.

My female arrived today, 2 days after the male.

Very nice, Arlene!

Claire

Female hummingbird here just north of Boston today, inspecting the feeder.

I spotted my first on Sunday, May 3rd and have had sightings every day since. They're baaack!

Good news, nekobus and Sue W!

No hummingbirds here yet today, so yesterdays pair have probably moved on. Hopefully a new wave will arrive this afternoon.

Claire

YES! ! ! First one I've seen drink - a female. ohh....Buddy's daughter 😊

Jane

So glad to have them back! Saw our first on Monday around noon but it was too quick to snap a pic! We have begun adding natives to our yard to support hummers and native wildlife of all sorts. This study from the Audubon Society further reinforces how critical natives are - https://www.audubon.org/news/hummingbirds-are-home-when-we-plant-native-plants

Good that they're back, suzabanana and that's a good article you referenced that describes Audubon's citizen science program monitoring hummingbirds.

I haven't seen any more hummers since a few days ago (sigh).

Claire

Saw my first at 7:30 this morning. Could not tell sex. He/she rested at feeder for several minutes. Very excited! I changed my nectar out yesterday morning and washed feeders in weak bleach solution (rinsed very well, also), so I am glad it is fresh and healthy now.

So nice to see them, deanna! It's depressing to keep changing the nectar without any visitors.

I saw a hummer very quickly yesterday afternoon, maybe a female, and definitely a female this morning. Whether she's a transient or a resident is still in question.

Claire

True, Claire. I've been watching for me, but I'm not spending that much time in front of the windows with feeder today. Plus, the wind off the water is very strong today, and that might affect it, as well. Maybe I'll see one tomorrow in the snow that's supposed to come tonight.

I was looking up information from U Maine, and they strongly suggest NOT putting up feeders during the summer. The sugar solution can ferment in two days, which then enlarges the hummingbirds' livers. Does anybody have other information on this? I don't have extensive early perennials for them. The few Columbine canadensis plants I have haven't bloomed yet, but they are close. Maybe I need to clean my nectar much more often.

deanna: Cornell's All About Birds site says:

"Don’t locate the feeder in direct sun, as the sugar water will spoil rapidly. In the shade your sugar water should last two or three days, except for very hot days, in which case it’s wise to change your hummingbird feeder water daily."

I change the nectar when it begins to look cloudy.

I have bleeding hearts blooming now, both a big spectabilis (Gold Heart) and some little white ones whose name I forget (I remember planting two different little white species). These are supposed to be good nectar sources for hummingbirds.

Claire

Right now some places like Pittsburgh, were down to 29° last night, and all of us have to to make sure our sugar water feeders don't freeze. The hummingbird at our feeder has been around it all day, moving slower than usual, and seems to be staying near to it in an evergreen. Amazing little creatures.

My video link below of a warmer day only two days ago.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/229965124712953786/

Since 95% of my shade is deciduous trees, it's hard to put feeders in shade right now. One feeder is under western eaves of house, so it's in a good spot. I changed the sugar water in the other two (was fresh on Thursday morning) and moved one into more shade on the porch. The other has no choice but full sun now. Will change nectar more often.

It may be a nuisance to change the nectar often, but it's so much easier than waiting until things are moldy. Mold is not only BAD for the birds, it's a real pain to clean and make sure you got in all the nooks and crannies. Time seems to get away from me sometimes. I think I might be saving myself some work by changing the nectar frequently!

The sugar should depress the freezing point of the solution a few degrees, but bringing the feeder inside on cold nights is always safer.

Claire

Another thought on leaving feeders out vs taking them in on cold nights, is that I sleep until 9 or 10 and once when I got up super early I was surprised to see the hummingbirds wake up to feed almost before the crack of dawn when it's almost dark! I figure if they are really cold they need to eat as soon as possible....and so that's why I leave mine out on near freezing nights. Something to consider, but worthless if it actually freezes. Does anyone have any home remedy or know of products to keep them from freezing?

This link, How to Keep Hummingbird Feeders From Freezing, has some good tips, including ways to heat and/or insulate the feeders.

They say "The typical hummingbird nectar recipe is a solution of one part sugar to four parts water, and this solution begins to freeze at 27 degrees F/-2.8 C."

Increasing the amount of sugar will work but that's not a good long-time solution.

Wrapping the feeder with Christmas tree lights (non-LED) is a technique I've read about often.

I agree that you have to get up really early to put the feeder back out, so that's not a good option for everyone. Sometimes just putting the feeder on a protected porch is enough (unless you have raccoons that will drink the nectar - it happened to me when I had a feeder on the deck).

Claire

Finally saw my first hummer on the feeder today!

Congratulations, MrsM! They sometimes really seem to take their own sweet time, but they have their own important reasons.

I mentioned that raccoons will sometimes drink the nectar if the feeder is on the deck. I just dug out some pictures from June, 2015 where they emptied the feeder one night. The feeder was hanging from a hook attached to the railing. I moved it off the deck the next day and hung it from a shepherd's hook out in the yard.

Claire

BUT...they were cute.🐿

And then there's the raccoon that ate jam from the oriole feeder...

I solved that by putting the feeder on the other side of the shepherd's hook and by putting a bowl of jam on the ground under the feeder for the raccoon. Several years later I'm still feeding the raccoon (smart critters those raccoons).

Claire

claireplymouth z6b coastal MA Thanks for sharing that information on keeping nectar from freezing and at what temp it freezes. Love your video too!

”Several years later I'm still feeding”... Sign of a good steward.👍🏼🦋🐦🐝

Yesterday morning my husband found a hummingbird stuck in our garage. Considering how little they are idle, I'm surprised he got stuck in the first place. He kept searching for high spots and was covered in cobwebs. Poor guy/girl must have been very scared flitting about. He opened the garage door and put a feeder lower down to lure it away from the ceiling areas and out the door.

deanna OMG I'm so glad you found it and got it out!!!! I never thought of them as the type to go into a garage to explore.

deanna: Poor stuck hummer! I guess when you're a bird in danger the instincts say to fly up to the sky to get away - nature doesn't usually have ceilings like a garage or a house does.

Claire

In my other house I had other birds get in the house and their instinct were to fly upward...but was super impressed when a bat would get in -they calmly flew around in a circle and out the window they got in!

Also birds tend to to go for light to get out.

I often see small birds in airports, flitting around amongst the girders, they must get enough to eat from leftover people food, but I don’t imagine that the hummer had that luxury. I am glad you lured him out, Deanna!

When my husband lured him out, he put the red feeder in a large ficus that spends winter indoors and had just been moved outside (because I can NOT completely get rid of the scale on it). The ficus is nestled in a shady corner by the garage door. Amazingly, although never having had a feeder anywhere near that space in the past, two males were fighting over it before nightfall. I think they really like having a feeder in a tree. They'll sit on the higher branches and then flit down to the feeder. My husband didn't know they were territorial and said the two hummingbirds were "dancing" around the feeder. HA! Next time my teenage boys start arguing I'm going to yell, "Ya'll stop dancing!"

Either those two males were fighting over all feeders in the yard, or I have several hummingbirds right now. I did just see my first female at a feeder in an older location. Dicentra is blooming, forsythia is still in bloom, and I'm not too many days away from Columbine canadensis flowers opening.

Has anyone noticed a big increase in the Hummingbirds as of yesterday afternoon? Since their arrived a month ago, their has been very few. Some days I didn't see any. Well yesterday the flock came in and I am so happy. My neighbor down the road noticed the same thing.

Arlene Levin what state do you live in? In Pittsburgh, PA we have noticed only one humming bird at our feeders, same with my family in another part of town. I assume from what you wrote that they still arriving in some areas?

We live in CT and I usually have many many hummingbirds. Maybe (ours) are arriving late and we have been having passer-bys.

I now have hummers here full time. I saw a female last week and have seen here daily for the last couple of days Visiting my native columbine as well as the large rhododendron planted by the previous occupant.

Seems I'm still only seeing one Hummingbird-- but to build a nest must mean there are more around. I got the one pulling nesting material on video...so maybe babies soon. Here is my short little video https://www.pinterest.com/pin/229965124713089999/ but still last year at this time I think I saw about 3 of them.