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Hummingbird feeder consumption question (1 Viewer)

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BadlandsB

New member
Hello,

I am new to the forum. We just moved into a house about 1hr north of San Antonio, TX, USA that has a 1qt hummingbird feeder.

I have been filling it with a 4/1 water/sugar mix and the local black chinned hummingbirds seem to like it.

My question is this: frequently, overnight (but not every night), the level of our feeder will drop by as much as 1/2 qt (16oz) Are hummingbirds nocturnal? During the day, consumption would be 4-5 oz or so.

There are no traces of spillage on the ground. Are there other critters that will raid hummingbird feeders at night?

I would appreciate any insights.

BadlandsB
 
Hello BandlandsB and welcome to the forum on behalf of the staff and moderators. You live in a nice area for all types of birds. You are probably getting other visitors at night, possibly bats. You also have a few different Orioles in your part of the U.S. They will also drink out of the feeder if they can, along with some of the Woodpecker families.
To answer your question - no, hummingbirds are not nocturnal in the usual sense of the word but they will come and feed at night.
 
Thanks! My neighbor thinks the culprits may be raccoons although I don't see how they could do the acrobatics without spilling.

I may invest in a "trail cam" to see what's happening.

Bruce
 
It was a (BIG) raccoon that was raiding the hummingbird feeder. I did get a trail cam and showed the critter pulling the feeder (swinging it up) so he (she?) could reach it from the tree trunk.

I have moved it 15" or so further out on the limb. We'll see if they can still do it. I may try the video mode on the trail cam to see how they are able to reach out that far.

Cheers!

BadlandsB
 
There are no traces of spillage on the ground. Are there other critters that will raid hummingbird feeders at night?
Click to expand...

Raccoons are my biggest culprits. I'm about ready to stop using feeders and just increase flowers that the hummers love. The raccoons have gotten so good at just tipping the feeders enough so they can gurgle down the sugar water. I've thought about adding cayan pepper to the solution to see if that would stop the raccoons and birds are apparently not bothered by the pepper.
 
I did get a video! The raccoon first gets it swinging, then reaches down, grabs the wire at around midpoint, pulls it up, hangs from the branch to get under the feeder, tilts it and drinks....amazing.

I have moved it out further and covered the suspension wire with two sections of thin brass tubing. Hopefully the joint between the tube sections will keep it from being a pendulum and the tubing should prevent them from pulling it up.

Stay tuned........

BadlandsB
 
Yes, please let me know how it works. BTW, I had forgotten to mention that I had found bats on the feeders a couple of years ago so it might possibly be attracting them as well. I was kind of excited about that one though ;)
 
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