Berylline Problems (1 Viewer)

I am new to your forum and was hoping that someone might be able to be of help to me. I live in Mexico and normally have 3 to 4 hummingbird species in my yard but our native Beryllines have taken over all my feeders. After looking on the web I have tried various methods to prevent this, such as putting the feeders closer together, further apart, hiding sight lines to each feeder and nothing has worked. They bully almost every other hummer that enters the yard. I would very much appreciate knowing if someone has an answer to this problem. We miss our Magnificent and Broadbills because they don`t stand a chance.
Thank you!

skye22 said:

I am new to your forum and was hoping that someone might be able to be of help to me. I live in Mexico and normally have 3 to 4 hummingbird species in my yard but our native Beryllines have taken over all my feeders. After looking on the web I have tried various methods to prevent this, such as putting the feeders closer together, further apart, hiding sight lines to each feeder and nothing has worked. They bully almost every other hummer that enters the yard. I would very much appreciate knowing if someone has an answer to this problem. We miss our Magnificent and Broadbills because they don`t stand a chance.
Thank you!

Click to expand...

Hello skye22, welcome to the forum.
Obviously you have knowledge of what needs to be done to try and minimize the aggression. At the same time, perhaps we should not anthropomorphize the birds we love. I'm as guilty as anyone in that regard. At times, stress as a result of unseen predators can amplify intraspecific aggression, with the bird most physically capable coming out on top. Maybe keeping a close eye for feral domesticated threats lurking nearby (eg...cats, dogs) could help. Probably a repeated mantra you have heard but, more and smaller feeders, dispersed more widely. Advantageous perches and sightlines minimized, as you indicate you have already done. Maybe a water source with a trickler/sprayer assembly would serve to spread the birds out. Most all hummers would not drink from it, but many appreciate the aspect of projected water used for grooming, a manufactured rain, as it were.

It's only my opinion....When we make a choice to provide supplemental forage, we are bound to laws of nature and are obligated to remain as passive and nonintrusive as possible. By interfering, in favoring one native species over others, that tendency puts us in a position of being the bully we rail against.