[mou] Hummingbird Question
Tom Crumpton
reforest@wiktel.com
Sat, 13 Aug 2005 11:35:05 -0500
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I live on the Canadian Border.
I have close to 20 hummingbirds at one time at my feeders now. I just
can't seem to count them as they move around a lot. I have 5 feeders
that are about 1.5 feet out my patio door (28 feeding ports). I also
have 2 feeders that are not in view of the main grouping. I have gone
through 10# of sugar so far this month (with no waste). Sometimes I see
3+ males at one time. The main group of feeders is by far the most
popular feeding spot. The males will take off from here soon. Some of
the males maybe immatures??? I have a neighbor that gets more
hummingbirds than I do (15 miles away). His closest neighbor is about
10 miles.
1) The throat patch changes with the light or angle of the sun I think.
Also the immatures maybe developing patches???
2) I have some aggressive females that will chase males as well as
aggressive males.
I have fed in this location consistently for about 10 years which I am
sure helps the numbers. I do not have competition from close neighbors
feeding to my knowledge. I do have a neighbor that feeds about 1/2 mile
away. The feeders are very busy this time of year as they prepare for
migration. Like I said I expect the males to be mostly gone in the next
10 days and then the volume of sugar water consumed and numbers will
decline somewhat. I went through over 20# of sugar last August.
One interesting observation is they appear to be feeding some in the
wild sunflowers that come up from spilled bird seed.
Have a great w/e
Tom
Ron Green wrote:
> I have a couple of questions regarding our resident Ruby-Throated HB's
> (male and female) that I am hoping someone could educate my wife and
> me on regarding a several issues?
>
> 1) Last night, my wife and I were eating dinner and watching the male
> HB. Anyway, we just noticed a bright red patch under its throat. I
> have taken quite a few close-up images and have not seen this before.
> Is the probably another male, or is it a change in the one that has
> been hanging around the most?
>
> 2) The last week or so it seems that the male has shifted to coming to
> the feeder frequently, but not necessarily to drink. It flys around,
> and darts back and forth. It seems like it is patroling? Is this
> territorial behavior? We do have a female that shows up occaisionally
> and he does tend to chase her off. But, she does come back when he is
> not around. Also, there is another male that does come around but is
> quickly chased by our resident one. However, the one getting chased
> off seems rather persistent and keeps coming back.
>
> 3) I was at Wild Birds Unlimited last Sunday to give a talk on Digital
> Photography. I happened to talk with a customer of the store who was
> telling me that she had quite a few HB's at her feeder at one time (I
> thought she said 10, but don't quote me on that). I was surprised
> based on what happens at out feeder and from a talk we had heard from
> a HB expert at the Quarry Hill Nature Center around February or March
> of this year.
>
> I would be interested in some inputs on the above. Thank you in advance.
>
>
> Ron Green
> http://www.greensphotoimages.com/gallery
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I live on the Canadian Border.<br>
I have close to 20 hummingbirds at one time at my feeders now. I just
can't seem to count them as they move around a lot. I have 5 feeders
that are about 1.5 feet out my patio door (28 feeding ports). I also
have 2 feeders that are not in view of the main grouping. I have gone
through 10# of sugar so far this month (with no waste). Sometimes I
see 3+ males at one time. The main group of feeders is by far the most
popular feeding spot. The males will take off from here soon. Some of
the males maybe immatures??? I have a neighbor that gets more
hummingbirds than I do (15 miles away). His closest neighbor is about
10 miles. <br>
1) The throat patch changes with the light or angle of the sun I
think. Also the immatures maybe developing patches???<br>
2) I have some aggressive females that will chase males as well as
aggressive males. <br>
<br>
I have fed in this location consistently for about 10 years which I am
sure helps the numbers. I do not have competition from close neighbors
feeding to my knowledge. I do have a neighbor that feeds about 1/2
mile away. The feeders are very busy this time of year as they prepare
for migration. Like I said I expect the males to be mostly gone in the
next 10 days and then the volume of sugar water consumed and numbers
will decline somewhat. I went through over 20# of sugar last August.<br>
One interesting observation is they appear to be feeding some in the
wild sunflowers that come up from spilled bird seed.<br>
<br>
Have a great w/e<br>
Tom<br>
<br>
Ron Green wrote:
<blockquote cite="mid00f401c5a01c$4de1a890$6401a8c0@ron" type="cite">
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; ">
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<div><font face="Arial" size="2">I have a couple of questions
regarding our resident Ruby-Throated HB's (male and female) that I am
hoping someone could educate my wife and me on regarding a several
issues?</font></div>
<div> </div>
<div><font face="Arial" size="2">1) Last night, my wife and I were
eating dinner and watching the male HB. Anyway, we just noticed
a bright red patch under its throat. I have taken quite a few close-up
images and have not seen this before. Is the probably another male, or
is it a change in the one that has been hanging around the most?</font></div>
<div> </div>
<div><font face="Arial" size="2">2) The last week or so it seems that
the male has shifted to coming to the feeder frequently, but not
necessarily to drink. It flys around, and darts back and forth. It
seems like it is patroling? Is this territorial behavior? We do have a
female that shows up occaisionally and he does tend to chase her off.
But, she does come back when he is not around. Also, there is another
male that does come around but is quickly chased by our resident one.
However, the one getting chased off seems rather persistent and keeps
coming back.</font></div>
<div> </div>
<div><font face="Arial" size="2">3) I was at Wild Birds Unlimited
last Sunday to give a talk on Digital Photography. I happened to talk
with a customer of the store who was telling me that she had quite a
few HB's at her feeder at one time (I thought she said 10, but don't
quote me on that). I was surprised based on what happens at out feeder
and from a talk we had heard from a HB expert at the Quarry Hill Nature
Center around February or March of this year. </font></div>
<div> </div>
<div><font face="Arial" size="2">I would be interested in some inputs
on the above. Thank you in advance.</font></div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
<div><font face="Arial" size="2">Ron Green<br>
<a href="http://www.greensphotoimages.com/gallery">http://www.greensphotoimages.com/gallery</a></font></div>
</blockquote>
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