Kat, you might be seeing some type of Oriole at your feeders, they also love nectar. Up here, goldfinches are tiny birds, smaller than sparrows, and summer colors are bright yellow for the males, a duller color for the females. I only see Baltimore Orioles here, but think there might be a few other varieties around that just don't come to my yard.

Hmmm, yes, maybe a Bullocks oriole, if I see it again... I see why they like the hummer feeders.

It's getting harder to get decent photos because the plants are so thick and they're often behind the flowers. But caught a decent one the other day.

I'm devastated. I think my little man has pox......

Here's to hoping he makes a full recovery, and I can keep it from spreading.

I hope he recovers. I had to look up what that was. One year I had just one hummingbird in the fall that seemed to have something odd where its bill joined to its head, and after reading about it, I wonder if that's what he had. He seemed fine otherwise and have never seen another bird with it since then, think it was 2 years ago. I'll have to see if I can a pic of what it looked like.

Edit: Found 1 pic showing it, and it was just last fall. It just looks like little bumps where the bill meets his head, and usually they had their heads covered in pollen from some flowers, so I wasn't sure if maybe it was some pollen stuck there or if there was a possibility it was sick.

Jeana, that hummer looks pretty rough. I never heard of pox. Can hummers recover from that?

My hummers left two days ago, hope they make it to their destination safely. They all looked to be in good shape. Hope they don't get afflicted with pox along the way. I miss them already and cannot wait till next May when they should be back.

Do hummers overwinter in your area? Your picture looks like a female ruby throat.

The hummers that swarmed here by the 2nd week of Sept have dwindled to maybe a double handful. I am removing feeders now, but will leave enough to take care of the ones that linger til later in the season. I figure they are still traveling south at this time.

Yes Kat, please do leave some feeders up. My guys only left a couple of days ago and they couldn't have made it to Texas already I don't think. I am guessing that they go south along the east side of Canada and the States so they will probably pass through Texas and would be glad to find some refreshments there.

I was curious about pox. When handling the hummers feeders I always wear gloves for protection.

Avian poxvirus is a tumor growth on a hummingbird's beak. It is transmitted from contact with hummingbirds that are already infected and from touching contaminated surfaces such as perches, feeders and exposed water sources. It can also be spread from contact with mosquitoes.

tigerpaws said: Jeana, that hummer looks pretty rough. I never heard of pox. Can hummers recover from that?

My hummers left two days ago, hope they make it to their destination safely. They all looked to be in good shape. Hope they don't get afflicted with pox along the way. I miss them already and cannot wait till next May when they should be back.

Do hummers overwinter in your area? Your picture looks like a female ruby throat.

It can be fatal, some can recover. Species is a male Costa. I have hummies year round.

Pox is contracted by mosquitoes, or contact from another infected, and surfaces

tigerpaws said: Jeana, that hummer looks pretty rough. I never heard of pox. Can hummers recover from that?

My hummers left two days ago, hope they make it to their destination safely. They all looked to be in good shape. Hope they don't get afflicted with pox along the way. I miss them already and cannot wait till next May when they should be back.

Do hummers overwinter in your area? Your picture looks like a female ruby throat.

Pictures showing color of gorget. Juvi, male, costa

I love the purple on those hummers, Jeana!

And this is how the majority of my hummers have been feeding lately, makes it very hard to get any pics. You can see the bill and part of the body only, they're just not cooperating and posing nicely this summer!

Murky said: I love the purple on those hummers, Jeana!

And this is how the majority of my hummers have been feeding lately, makes it very hard to get any pics. You can see the bill and part of the body only, they're just not cooperating and posing nicely this summer!

You wouldn't happen to have a few seed to spare of that firecracker plant in the picture, would you?

That one is Cuphea Vermillionaire and never goes to seed. Which is actually one reason I love it because there's no deadheading or maintenance at all other than water/fertilize and it stays in heavy bloom from spring until frost kills it. So I just buy a few of them every spring for the planters, but I'd imagine one would survive winters in your zone. If you bought one plant, you could root cuttings and get many more that way. I've never tried rooting cuttings from it but I've read they root pretty easily.

Beautiful, Jeana! I've never seen that kind of hummie.

Still having 2-3 bird WWI-style aerial dogfights here. There is very little blooming around here beyond my yard. It hasn't rained except a light sprinkle for a few mins last weekend, in over a month, maybe 6 weeks, I've lost count.

I put up 2 more feeders and have been trying to water blooming plants but some of them just can't perform with a little squirt of tap water. Bird bath is getting emptied every day. I haven't seen that happen for years. Every critter around that can get up to it is taking a drink, except the hummies. I never notice them visiting the bath.

We've had rain most days and/or nights this week, I haven't been able to get anything done outside. When I walked past the back windows though earlier there was an aerial dogfight going on between 2 hummers. I wished I was out there with my camera but it would have been over by the time I got to the door.

Rain so rarely spreads itself perfectly evenly. Too much & too little are about equally frustrating.

purpleinopp said: Beautiful, Jeana! I've never seen that kind of hummie.

Still having 2-3 bird WWI-style aerial dogfights here. There is very little blooming around here beyond my yard. It hasn't rained except a light sprinkle for a few mins last weekend, in over a month, maybe 6 weeks, I've lost count.

I put up 2 more feeders and have been trying to water blooming plants but some of them just can't perform with a little squirt of tap water. Bird bath is getting emptied every day. I haven't seen that happen for years. Every critter around that can get up to it is taking a drink, except the hummies. I never notice them visiting the bath.

I know that feeling. We had a nonsoon. Lol. I was out watering the yard 2x a day, manually to try and keep things alive, in 115+ temps. 119-120 was the highest recorded locally

I would not be able to live in that heat. How do you stand it?!

Tiffany, I was just thinking the same thing! I didn't like watering planters daily for 30 minutes even in our heat in the sun, and put in drip irrigation. I'll gladly shovel snow all winter to avoid that insane heat.