Gramof6

We have 2 feeders out & have visitors daily. They are just cheap feeders from Home Depot or Lowes. I make the syrup: 4 parts water to 1 part sugar. No food coloring. They like it as well as colored. LOL

Gramof6

Karla I love the pics! Those are beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

dsb38327

I am in Tennessee and am on their migration path. (If that is what we call it). I get dribs and drabs until mid July then the build starts.
August is my busy month. For (basically) the last 3 weeks of August I feed 3 gallons of sugar water a day.
(Yes, 4cupswater/1cupsugar). I buy 25lbs of sugar a week for the last 4 weeks.
I use 20 to 25 feeders that have from 5 to 10 holes per feeder. I make concrete baths from sack crete, sink my pole in the middle of the bird bath while the mix is wet. When it dries we keep it filled with water to keep the ants out of the feeders. I haven't found a solution for the bees and wasps. I just let the hummers chase them away. The hummers will not drink the water if there is a bee or ant in it.
My bird watchers have guessed we have from 300 to 400 hummers at our peak. It is like a bee hive. They seem to come in after a thunder storm or hard rain and leave just before a thunder storm or hard rain. They seem to travel in groups. You can tell one group has gone and a new group has come in.
(I am in a small town, with neighbors all around me. The neighbors have very few hummers and they swarm my feeders. I don't know how they pick and choose but they do.)
I am looking for a photo that might show you. I space the feeders so it is hard to get them in the photo they swarm so much.
I have not found my photos of them so I may have deleted them. If I did I can take some in August.

barnbum

Dorothy--WOW!!! Have you taken photos??? I've seen videos of this from others--just amazing!!!

I think we had two.

Pam B

I have had hummingbird feeders but very rarely do I ever see a hummingbird. On the other hand, my MIL 5 miles away always has several hummers. I used to threaten that I was going to capture a few with a butterfly net and move them to my house. LOL I don't understand why I don't get many hummers...I have flowers all over the place.

2 Doods

I had a really nice feeder but part of it was plastic. DH melted it when he boiled it trying to sterilize it so I put out a cheap feeder this year.

DD bought me a fancier one for Mom's day so there are 2 now. We have lots of huumers and they will fight and chase each other off.

My little ones only like homemade food. I put the store bought solution in the feeders and the birds would come, sniff and take off. I dumped that stuff out and put the sugar/water back in-they are happy now.

DD organized my pictures. I don't know where she put the birds.
When I find them, I'll put their mug shot on here.

shaverg

We have the 30 oz. glass feeders, with little yellow flower at each hole. We have 4 feeders and go through 25 lbs of sugar every two weeks. We have to buy it at costco. Somedays we feed 50+ hummingbirds at a time, waiting in line for a hole. We are considered a feeding station. We have hummingbird plants too, just in case we go on vacation and aren't here to keep the feeders full. We have 5 different kinds. Annas, and Costas we have year round. Usually the Black Chin, Rufus and Allens, come through spring and fall.

JanetM

We do have hummingbirds...they are attracted to the agapanthas (Lilly of the Nile) plants in our backyard. We had a feeder at one time but it attracted more ants than birds :cry:

Pam

A neighbor of mine, when I lived in Arizona accidently trapped one on her screened back porch, and had to feed it all winter long. She would go to every store and get flowers as well as hanging a feeder. She made me laugh so much. She said she was so glad when the first week of Feb came along so she could prop open the door and say good bye.

She did not put out any feeders THAT year so he would MOVE.

Bobby's Girl

Have you considered planting flowers that attract hummingbirds? Flowers have advantage over feeders; they're less mess, less trouble, and less expensive. Red flowers that have a throat that the long beak can fit into will attract hummingbirds and be pretty for you to enjoy, too. Red petunias, red salvia, and cypress vine (also called hummingbird vine) are great to attract hummers, and they bloom until frost in the fall. Flowers planted under windows, in hanging pots, or in window boxes allow you to get a close-up view of the birds.