Hummingbird Feeder (and placement) advice? (1 Viewer)

Hi everyone!

I'm so excited to find this forum. I've been wanting to get a hummingbird feeder for some time, and my girlfriend got me one for Christmas!

However, I have some questions that I haven't been able to answer with the resources I have searched on line. I hope you can help me get a good and attractive feeder set up. We live in Portland, Oregon, which seems like important information. And here are the things I'm curious about:

* We live on the second floor of a building with a back porch that faces a forest (so it's kind of like being on the 4th floor of a forest). We've seen hummingbirds when we've walked around the forest, but is it possible that our porch is too high for the birds to find or be attracted to?

* Given that our porch is still an okay location, there seems to be a lot of advice of planting other flowers in a garden to help attract hummingbirds. Would this still work on our porch? Should I consider planting other flowers?

* I currently have the feeder hanging between the bars of our balcony grating. But even if birds were to find it, this doesn't allow a lot of space for a hummingbird to move around it. Is this important? I've considered getting a shepherd's hook-type thing and placing it in the soil of some of the vegetables my girlfriend is planning to plant this spring.

I am happy to provide any photographs that might help explain the location and situation I'm describing.

Thank you in advance for any help you can offer this very very new but very very excited hummingbird feeder owner!

- Eric

Hi ya Eric and a warm welcome to you from those of us on staff here at BF :t:

As far as how high a hummer will go, I can't give you a definitive answer but I would think that second floor balcony shouldn't be too high for them.

Yes, flowers will serve you and hummers well. My hummers love my Texas Sage and Salvia both of which can be planted in pots. It will also attract them to your deck I would think.

As to the bars on the railing, I think that may pose a problem with the hummers with the feeders between them. If you've ever noticed a hummer feeding they don't usually stay in one place for long and are constantly backing to and fro to the feeder so if you can rig up a shepherd's hook to hang the feeders from, that should serve you and the hummers well.

Do keep us posted on your hummer arrivals and how well they are doing on your deck.

Height is no problem Eric. I live in northern California and have 20-30 hummers at my feeders (starting in spring) which are all two and a half stories up from the ground. As far as the bars, I'd rig up some sort of hook so it sits out from the bars a little. We have metal railings with wires below which the hummers love to sit on near the feeders. My husband made up our feeder holders from rebar so you can use any old thing that will hold the weight. Distance out isn't important to the hummers.

Hope you are making your own sugar water-1 cup sugar to 4 cups boiling water (you don't need red dye). Until you have a good number of birds, just put a small amount in your feeder and store the rest in the refrigerator for up to a week but no longer as it goes bad. The important thing is to keep the feeder clean.

Welcome and we'd love to see your bird photos in the gallery when you have time.

Sounds good.

Hey y'all,

Thanks for the advice! I really appreciate it, and I'm excited to get everything set up to bring some birds to the porch soon.

I just got myself a shepherd's hook and as soon as we have some solid soil in pots to hold it, I'll get it set up.

Ducbucln: Thanks for the advice about the sugar water. I have indeed been making my own, and no red dye. I didn't know it only lasted about a week in the fridge, though, so I'll keep that in mind with my next batch. (my last one was in the fridge for about a month)

Thanks again, and I'll definitely check back in once we start seeing some action.

Cheers!

get a small feeder as the local hummers are very territorial, It may take a while for them to find it
but they will come back for years after that I have ones that come looking for one that I moved a few years ago
keep the nectar fresh and add no food color
they love red flowers
I have seen them nesting high up in tress and feeding high up in trees so you height should not be a problem
ps don't be surprised if they dive bomb you there very territorial

I just put a new one up a few minutes ago but you have to watch that it does not freeze at night now
I lost a nice one this fall when I thought it was empty and it froze and broke the glass jar
I like glass it is easy to put in the dishwasher on sanitizing cycle and kill all the germs

Thanks for the advice, Mickey.

I just got a shrub at a local farm this weekend (I think it's a Ribes Sanguineum), which I read will help make things more attractive to the hummingbirds. I'm still a little concerned about being so high up on a porch without much other plant/flower-life, but there's always always a chance...

a yellow trumpet vine in a big pot will attract them like a magnet

Ooh, interesting! You wouldn't happen to know if I can plant that in the same pot as my shrub, would you? (That's the pot my shepard's hook is in, and I figure the vine might like to crawl up it)

I'm pretty new to any kind of planting/potting as well.

it would have to be a very big pot