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Overwhelmed by hummingbirds in my backyard (1 Viewer)

L

livewithnature

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I used to have 4 hummingbird feeders at different locations on the side of my house. When I did that, one hummingbird would try to hoard the feeder for itself. After being tire of seeing all the fights they have for the feeder, I placed the 4 feeders close to each other about 3 ft apart.

What I found with 4 feeders close to each other is that the hummingbirds are more tolerant of each other at the feeder and with it, now I have sometimes 10 hummingbirds feeding at the same time at one feeder (max. feeding holes). And I have many many hummingbirds flying all over my backyards. Its quite a sight, having hummingbirds zipping left & right by you as I sit in my backyard. Sometimes I think I have ALL the hummingbirds in the neighborhood at my backyard. There is not one second that a hummingbird is not at a feeder.

I like feeding the hummingbirds but I have so many of them coming to my feeders. I'm going through a 25 lb bag of sugar a month. Did you have the same problem as me & what did you do?
 

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Wow, I wish I had that kind of problem! The only thing my hummingbird feeder attracted were ants. Ever since I saw my first hummingbird I was trying to get them to come back without any success. Then this past summer as I was sitting on my patio one swooshed past my head and was hovering around a flower just inches away from me. It was amazing, the hummingbird was so close to me that I could have touched it but I was even afraid to breathe because I didn't want to scare it away. The moment only lasted a few seconds but it's unforgettable.
 
You may be too far North. The Anna's Hummingbirds here don't migrate for the Winter, so that's probably why I have so many at my feeders. In the Winter, I don't think there are any flowers with nectar, so I don't know what they would do if not for the feeders people set out. We had a week of freezing temp here around 25 deg & I am amazed that these little birds survive that temp during the night. They are an amazing little birds.
 
livewithnature said:
We had a week of freezing temp here around 25 deg & I am amazed that these little birds survive that temp during the night. They are an amazing little birds.
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Yes they are. We sometimes (not often) get temps in the high teens (F) during winter. Last year we had a night of 17 degrees F and they all seemed to survive. If the temps are going to be under 30 degrees F I take my four feeders into the garage after dark and put them back out before light. I'm diligent (fanatical, my wife claims) about leaving the feeders out till AFTER dark and getting them back outside BEFORE first light. Judging from activity around the four feeders, I think I have about a dozen hummingbirds that live year-round in the vicinity of our house. I've been feeding them for many years now and never miss a day. During the hot summer months I change the solution every other day. Now that it's much cooler out I change the solution every third or fourth day.

I also feed other birds and have a 24-hour fresh watering system for all the wildlife.
 
I'll take your overwhelming hummingbird situation any day :)

I'm currently overwhelmed with sparrows and mourning doves :p

I fear i may have upset my hummingbird regulars when i took down the feeders when temps started reaching freezing. This was brought to my attention one morning when a young ruby who normally tries to dominate the feeders zipped back and forth where the feeders normally would be, then zipped within inches of my face, chirped at me a few times ( i assume in anger) and shot off like a rocket.

I promptly re-filled the feeders and put them back in their usual spot, but alas, no hummers :( I see them in the trees behind my house, so i'm supposing they found a new food source.
 
After reading haclarke's post "hummingbird overpopulation around the feeders?", looks like he had the same result as me.

The moral of our story is : If you like to have more hummingbirds visiting your feeders, move your feeders close to each other. When you do that, one bird can't hog the feeder for itself. They will have to resort to sharing the feeders with other hummers. I think this only works if you have 3 or more feeders.

Oh and BTW, I don't mind feeding all the hummers, I can get a 25 lb bag of sugar for under $10 at a grocery outlet. And if I need to, I can get even a bigger bag, a 35lb bag :)
 
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Is there a way to count the number of hummers that visit the feeders? I have tried many times with no luck. It appears as though I may have about 12 to 15 around at the busy times of the day. But they finish approximately 5lbs of sugar for the week. Can a dozen go throught that amount in a week?
 
If you're counting 12 to 15 chances are there are probably double that ;)

Hi there and a warm welcome to you from those of us on staff here at BF :t:
 
Fun. When I worked in SE Alaska - a neighbor had a homemade feeder with a continuous perch all the way around. Perhaps a gallon or 2. She'd have hundreds at it and in the surrounding vegetation. I had a smaller feeder that I would fill 5 times a day - if not at work.

I also remember Marion Paton having a separate feeder just for bees and yellow jackets. Kept them away from the stars of the show.
 
Anna hummingbirds on Vancouver Island

We have two nesting in the trees in our yard right next to the ocean. They come to feed from our nectar feeder every day They were very timid at first but now we can go out on the deck and stand right next to them to take photos
 

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