I thought I'd begin a new thread for the month of July since no one has started one yet.

Today has been Hummingbird Day here at my house.

Those hummingbirds are always a joy to see.

There's a few hanging around here too. Actually, it's more like a few dozen!

Oh what a perfect way to start off July with all those hummer photos!

Christine, Wow, that is so amazing!! I'd love to have bunches of hummers around at the same time; there were two out here today but one kept chasing the other off. I've never, ever had more than one Hummingbird at a feeder at a time. I have two feeders set up, out of view of each other but it seems this one female is very territorial and she sure doesn't miss another of her kind entering the area and always chases others off!


Mourning Dove

Fantastic photos everybody!!! Woooooooooo Hoooooooo for the Great horned Owls!

Loving the hummers all.

Lin, you have hummers this summer!! Don't worry, they'll multiply & then that female will have to share her territory.

We have more hummies this year. I think it may be babies that were born here & have now grown up & so they come back here every year. One thing is for sure ~~~ they are sucking up the syrup faster than ever before!

LOL, I buy sugar in bulk at Sams Club and I seem to always be running low. During this horrible heat we've been having the past couple of months I've been taking the feeders down every two days and cleaning and refilling them with fresh sugar water.

flaflwrgrl said:Fantastic photos everybody!!! Woooooooooo Hoooooooo for the Great horned Owls!

Loving the hummers all.

Lin, you have hummers this summer!! Don't worry, they'll multiply & then that female will have to share her territory.

We have more hummies this year. I think it may be babies that were born here & have now grown up & so they come back here every year. One thing is for sure ~~~ they are sucking up the syrup faster than ever before!

Yes Lin, keep feeding those hummies and they will likely multiply and return year after year! Then you will be filling those feeders everyday!

flaflwrgrl, I knew you would have more hummingbirds this year too!!

I started with just a couple of visiting hummies about seven years ago and now I can't even begin to count how many there are!! Dozens for sure but probably over fifty of them. I'm cleaning and filling four feeders twice a day, that's about 12 cups of nectar = 3 cups of sugar per day! I'm committed now, they come looking for me if I let the feeders go empty!

@wildflowers Christine! OMG! 4 feeders TWICE a day?????? Gads! I don't wanna fill 4 feeders twice a day.
I had best get to planting a TON more hummer plants so they can sip from them!

I have observed what I guess is babies b/c they will come to the feeders & be coming up UNDER them looking at the sugar water & looking around the sides & then they'll fly to flower BUDS & try like heck to drill down into that closed bud. It's like they don't know what to do. They know they want nectar but just aren't sure how to get at it. I'm assuming those are this years fledglings. It doesn't take them long to learn though & they soon find the holes up on top of the humzinger & start using them.

I've been feeding hummingbirds for a few years but I've never had more than one visit at a time ... every time another comes around, the other chases it off.

I think the more you have, the less they fight as Christine stated before (I think). I'm noticing mine are still fighting but it isn't as vicious as before. They are starting to become more tolerant to each other. I have 3 feeders - 1 in front, 1 in back & 1 on the side & they used to stake out "their" feeder & boy & howdy if anyone else came within viewing distance of "their" feeder! But now that is changing. Around back I see a female during the day but come late afternoon a male is there. And I have seen a female sipping & another female comes along & sips from the salvia that is mere feet from the feeder & there are no fights.

Yes, they do seem to get along better the more of them there are. The biggest feeder gatherings are in the morning and again in the evenings when they all show up and take turns getting a drink, and things are so harmonious at these times. I think they must be nesting/sleeping in the nearby trees and the feeders are the first stop in the morning and the last stop at night. I see them coming and going throughout the day too but more staggered and that's when I notice more chasing going on.

I grow most of my flowers from seed, so it's been slow growing enough nectaring flowers. I'm still working on that too!

The past few days there have been two Hummingbirds around ... with one constantly chasing the other one off. I love their chattering and zooming but I sure wish they would learn to share. I have flowers blooming that they visit (Clerodendrum, Ixora, Milkweed, Aloe and two blooming Lipstick plants that are hanging in a tree among other things) but they really seem to spend more time at the sugar/water feeders. I only have two of the feeders out right now and yet the one female hummingbird is very territorial and chases off the other if he/she tries to go to any of the flowers or feeders! She then perches in the Crepe Myrtle tree and takes off again if another comes anywhere near the side yard ... she's a selfish and feisty little gal.

Are y'all tired of seeing Hummingbirds yet? I spoke too soon yesterday about only ever seeing one ... today there were three flitting around and chasing each other. They are so fast I can't possibly get a picture of all three together and they are never at the feeder together. These aren't in any particular order, some taken this morning, others this afternoon and a couple this evening:




This little one was hunched on a branch when it was raining:

I have been surprised at the flowers they nectar on. There are the usual of course that they are known to nectar on but daylilys have never been on any list I've ever seen & yet I have witnessed them many, many times now nectaring on the dl's. They love glads but glads bloom for such a short time. Believe it or not the other day I saw one sipping on the gaillardia -- that's the first time I've witnessed that! It might have just been that hungry that it would take anything. Or maybe it was a baby who had to experiment. You know how kids are. I do find it interesting that I have a bunch of butterfly bushes this year blooming like gangbusters & hummies are reputed to go nuts over them & yet they rarely visit them. The butterflies however can't stay away from them!

Lin - Guess what? I saw a female Ruby-throated hummer today using some of my nectar plants. I had thought over the past month that I had on occasion heard a hummer zip by me, but I haven't seen a hummer in summer since 2011. I did though have one visiting regularly every afternoon before dusk a couple of years before, but no hummers in summer since. Any females you or I are seeing here in Florida would likely be nesting females raising young. Looks like I am going to have to put a feeder out for her!

And I have not seen a female hummer since 2011, so I am rather thrilled to know there is one around this summer using my flowers!

Great photos Lin!

Becky!

Thanks, Ann! I am really happy to see one here. What an unexpected treat!!!! I sure miss my over-wintering "boys", so this is really very exciting for me, personally!!!

I'm sure it is Becky. I'm excited for you. Better get that feeder out there & make sure she doesn't leave for greener pastures.

Ann, I was told Hummers have "particular" flowers they nectar at but I too have seen them at a bunch of different types of blooms; I think it's whatever tastes good! These photos from 2013 & 2014:

Pentas ................................................... Daylily


Pagoda Flowers .................................... Bottlebrush ..................................... Hoya


Tropical Milkweed ............................... Bonfire Begonia