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All my hummingbirds have left!!! (1 Viewer)

A

azgirl

New member
For about a year I have been having a lot of hummingbirds come to my home. Until the end of February when all of a sudden they stopped coming. It happened after I had planted some flowers. I planted some dianthus, and I layed down a layer of cedar mulch. The next day only a couple hummers came to drink, and by the end of the week they werent coming at all. I thought maybe its the feeder. So I replaced the feeder, but they never came back. I have a honeysuckle plant and a fuschia along with a bouganvilla planted in my yard. Is there anything else I can do to get back the hummingbirds. And what could have made them disapear to begin with??

Please help, I miss them!!! |:(|
 
Hi, AZGirl -- from another AZ girl. ;) A warm welcome to you from all of us on staff here at BirdForum.

Since you don't say where you are in Arizona, it might be weather-related, migration-related, or just a natural lull in them visiting your feeder. I'm on the Mogollon Rim so haven't even seen a hummer yet for the season although they're being reported all over the place.

I'm sure someone with more knowledge of hummer-friendly flowers will be along who can better advise you (I do know penstemmons are a favorite flower). What species of hummers do you normally see in your yard?
 
I live in the phoenix area. Im not sure what species. Im not that educated about hummers. I just know the basics. Not much more than that. Here is a pic I took over Christmas. Its not a very good photo, but I guess it should give you an idea of what species.
Also I have changed bird feeders, and the new one I have has these wierd little plastic pieces for them to sit on. Its something I havent seen before. Do hummers get picky about their feeders??



It wont let me upload. Pic exceeds limit of 800x800.
The hummer was grayish with some green on its body and a red throat.
 
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azgirl: you probably have Costa's & Anna's Hummingbirds. Costa's is a common desert species, but Anna's have spread over from California into the AZ suburbs, and they are now common in AZ. There are anecdotes that hummingbirds prefer Perky-Pet Four Fountains feeders, and that the birds will abandon other models in favor of a PPFF if given the opportunity. I know one famous hummingbird expert who uses nothing else. But many other experts will tell you that hummingbirds will use any feeder, if it's set up in a good location. If you change models, you may have to play some tricks to get them to move from their accustomed brand to the new one. If you have so many birds that you need large-capacity feeders, your choices are more limited. I know a guy (Frank, are you still here?) who uses the non-longer-manufactured 96 oz PP feeders, and he refills them daily during peak summer season. I don't get a lot of birds, and the 8 oz HummZinger feeders with a 4 oz load work well for me. Discussions about hummingbird feeders can get very heated. Use whatever works for you, but think about how easy they are to clean and whether they'll stand up to the hot Arizona sun for several months. PPFF feeders are made of cheap plastic that is destroyed by UV radiation in a few months. Each PPFF has 15 parts, and there are hard-to-reach places where mold can grow. A HummZinger has 3 parts, including the brass hanger, and it's very easy to clean.
 
I also live in AZ and we have noticed a big reduction in the numbers of Hummingbirds this year. We are lucky to see 5 a week. I have ordered the HummZinger feeders, their Oriole feeder to try.
 
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Hi.
You all are blessed in the south west! My wife and I visired the Phoenix area last year and seeing hummers was an all day everyday occurance!
However I have encountered the same problem as azgirl. We haven't had too many up here in the Dayton ohio area anyway but this year is worse. So far I have seen only 1 and it didn't stay long. And here in the last few weeks it hasn't been back at all. I keep the feeders changed once a week and have several flowers close by. My friend who lives a few miles away says he hasn't had but 2 this yr so far and normally he has many.

I was wondering if others are having the same problem or it's something I have done.
I really miss the little guys.

charly
 
Primary food sources

azgirl said:
For about a year I have been having a lot of hummingbirds come to my home. Until the end of February when all of a sudden they stopped coming. It happened after I had planted some flowers. I planted some dianthus, and I layed down a layer of cedar mulch. The next day only a couple hummers came to drink, and by the end of the week they werent coming at all. I thought maybe its the feeder. So I replaced the feeder, but they never came back. I have a honeysuckle plant and a fuschia along with a bouganvilla planted in my yard. Is there anything else I can do to get back the hummingbirds. And what could have made them disapear to begin with??

Please help, I miss them!!! |:(|
Click to expand...

Nectar and your feeder are only supplemental, it could be that there are not enough small insects and spiders around to hold them in your area. If they are nesting, this will be even more critical.
I know you miss them, but they will come back. Avoid widespread use of pesticides, we need some bugs! :cool:
http://www.pbase.com/tsiya/root

http://photobucket.com/albums/v244/tsiya/
 
Curtis Croulet said:
I know a guy (Frank, are you still here?) who uses the non-longer-manufactured 96 oz PP feeders, and he refills them daily during peak summer season.
Click to expand...
Yep, still here . . .

PerkyPet96Ouncer.jpg
 
Frankj said:
But do those come in 96 ounce sizes??!!!!! |^|
Click to expand...

Alas, no. They only come in a 16 oz size -- too small for you, but too large for me. I've had considerable e-mail communication with the Whelan family that makes them. The jar is a pickle jar. The capacity of the feeder was determined by the size of an already-available jar. They've had a lot of professional interest in these feeders (i.e. banders), and they are aware that they will need a larger capacity feeder to really get into that market, where 30 oz and larger is common. But they just don't have the resources yet. For most of the people in this forum, 16 oz is probably plenty big enough, and the feeders are almost as easy to clean and probably as durable as the HummZingers. Probably the biggest drawback for many people is the $24.95 price, and the feeders are currently only available direct from the manufacturer. But they're working on selling through more channels.
 
Hummer Traffic This Summer

Curtis Croulet said:
Alas, no. They only come in a 16 oz size -- too small for you, but too large for me. I've had considerable e-mail communication with the Whelan family that makes them. The jar is a pickle jar. The capacity of the feeder was determined by the size of an already-available jar. They've had a lot of professional interest in these feeders (i.e. banders), and they are aware that they will need a larger capacity feeder to really get into that market, where 30 oz and larger is common. But they just don't have the resources yet. For most of the people in this forum, 16 oz is probably plenty big enough, and the feeders are almost as easy to clean and probably as durable as the HummZingers. Probably the biggest drawback for many people is the $24.95 price, and the feeders are currently only available direct from the manufacturer. But they're working on selling through more channels.
Click to expand...


Sorry if it's bad form for a feeder representative (Dr. JB's) to join in, but we've had some feedback from customers regarding hummer traffic this summer. Similar to the preceding comments, traffic has either been the same or way down. One customer said that last fall's southward migration had trouble with Hurricane Katrina, which sadly might have thinned the population. Any evidence of this? Also, the comments on the feeders are great -- fodder for product development. Thanks sincerely. We'll do our best with price. Cheers.
 
Chris Whelan said:
Sorry if it's bad form for a feeder representative (Dr. JB's) to join in, but we've had some feedback from customers regarding hummer traffic this summer. Similar to the preceding comments, traffic has either been the same or way down. One customer said that last fall's southward migration had trouble with Hurricane Katrina, which sadly might have thinned the population. Any evidence of this? Also, the comments on the feeders are great -- fodder for product development. Thanks sincerely. We'll do our best with price. Cheers.
Click to expand...

Your comments are always welcome, Chris.

I think our hummer traffic is actually up a bit over the same time last year. It's still not a lot of birds, but they are fine entertainment.

In another forum somebody asked for suggestions for feeders that don't leak. HummZingers don't leak. It's intrinsic with their saucer-style design. Dr. JB's Clean Feeders are an upright bottle-type of feeder, but they don't leak, either.
 
Curtis Croulet said:
Your comments are always welcome, Chris.

I think our hummer traffic is actually up a bit over the same time last year. It's still not a lot of birds, but they are fine entertainment.

In another forum somebody asked for suggestions for feeders that don't leak. HummZingers don't leak. It's intrinsic with their saucer-style design. Dr. JB's Clean Feeders are an upright bottle-type of feeder, but they don't leak, either.
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree more Curtis. Traffic is actually up slightly and very entertaining.

Mark
 
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