Magnificent Creatures (Hummingbirds filmed on GoPro by my brother - short video)

youtube.com ^

[RoosterRedux]

Video Link

[Albion Wilde]

Ooh! Love the moments at :41 - :44 seconds where the bird faces the camera!

[Paleo Pete]

I have a couple of feeders just like the one on the left. Those are what I use to make sure they only have one spot to feed so I can get pictures. If I use the 4 location feeders like the one on the right, they always go to a feeder spout on the back side and hide from my camera.

You don't need the red food coloring, they will find it if it has a red spot the size of a quarter. Once they know it's there, they'll come back every year...to the exact same spot. The food coloring has not been proven harmful, it's just not needed. The older red coloring was harmful, to humans as well as birds, the new type has not been proven harmful to the hummers.

Hummers will come back year after year and will remember exactly where your feeder is. Or was. That's how I've found out it was time to put out feeders a couple of times. Last spring I looked out the window and saw a hummer hovering within 6 inches of where the feeder was the previous summer. I had a feeder filled and hung a few minutes later, he had found it in 15 minutes.

Hummers are very territorial. One will always try to guard his favorite feeder, and I've seen females do the same. They will chase away any hummer that comes near, even their own offspring. It's a hereditary instinct. I've watched hummers try to guard two feeders.

They are also very tolerant of humans. If you sit near their feeder for about 10 minutes or so, they will finally start to come to it. In a while, they will pretty much ignore you. they are also attracted to red. I have a cap with a 2 inch red logo. I've seen hummers fly up and hover a foot in front of me, take a close look at it, then fly away at least a dozen times. They can also fly backwards and upside down to an extent.

Bluebirds will do the same, put up a nesting box and they will come back to the same location looking for it if it's been removed.

Mockingbirds...they follow your lawn mower looking for insects you just stirred up. They've been following my mowers for at least 20 years that I remember noticing it. Mockers are also much more tolerant of people than many birds. I watched one dive bomb my cat on a regular basis when I was in Louisiana. He also followed behind the mower to get bugs.

A couple of my pictures from last year. I haven't tried to get any this year. We usually only get Ruby Throated Hummingbirds here, I saw one Black Chinned Hummingbird in Louisiana. It was migrating, stayed for 3 days then left.

[tumblindice]

My little birds haven’t returned since the feeder fell and I had to refill it, and I miss them. They were thick last year, but I only had a couple, young females.
I used a box mix the first time, boiled sugar this time. Can the nectar be too thick/too much sugar?

[siamesecats]

Here is a link to Hummer Care:

http://phoebeallens.com/feedercare.html

[tumblindice]

Thanks. It’s the first time I used a commercial mix, won’t do it again.
I’ve had quite a few over the years so must have been doing it right.

[MomwithHope]

Here too. They hit the glass and are stunned. A drop of water off a fingertip usually snaps them out of it. The warblers are the prettiest. I usually get a picture.

[minnesota_bound]

Be careful they may turn on you : )
Fifty hummingbirds can turn you into a pin cushion!

[lagrange point1]

Had a bad experience about a week ago. I have several feeders set and ususlly 6 to 10 birds around, although one thinks he is boss. While watching one feed, a red tailed hawk flew at the feeder and caught a hummer flying away. Both birds fell a few feet to the ground. A few seconds later, the hawk flew away with the hummer in his talons.

Never saw anything like that before. I always thought hummingbirds were such good fliers that they could out fly other birds. Not this time. I hope this was a one time event, as I enjoy the hummingbirds in my area (east of Austin Texas).

[V K Lee]

Beautiful creatures. We’ve 5 feeders up and these are cleaned and refilled every other day recently. The scouts come thru each year and once they are seen we gradually add more feeders, eliminate the banana spiders if we happen to see them. There is a live camera site that Cornell University manages of a ranch in West Texas where a live feed is seen thru the season. We anticipate their feeds each year as the birds come thru. We’ve seen several different breeds come through Texas over the past years. They have all been beautiful, bits of jewelry.

Thanks for sharing!

[MinuteGal]

Hey, Rooster...your video was really something to crow about.

Thanks so much for posting it!

What state is your brother in?

I used to travel from Florida to South Carolina for a week to visit my late uncle who lived on the 6th hole of a beautiful golf course on Hilton Head Island. His hummingbird feeder was just the other side of the big picture window in his kitchen's breakfast nook.

We'd eat our morning repast and drink hot mugs of coffee each day while enjoying the whirring little beauties sipping nectar a few feet from our eyes.

Precious visual memories never to be forgotten.

Leni

[poobear]

Excellent story. Thanks for sharing.

[RoosterRedux]

We’re both in GA.

[Daffynition]

My favorite bird to observe. Love my hummies. They'll be leaving soon. ;(

[SaraJohnson]

I am sitting next to the window watching a load of hummingbirds feeding out back. They are so sweet.

[SaraJohnson]

Nice. Thanks for sharing!

[RoosterRedux]

Yur welcome.

I love birds and animals. Gives me a good feeling just to be around them.

[V K Lee]

The West Texas link from Cornell. Live feed
referenced yesterday
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U59DRGDuljg

[RoosterRedux]

Nice. I am going to leave that cam on all day. The birds chirping in the background is relaxing.

[Scythian_Reborn]

That second one was clearly a government drone, watch your six ...

[MinuteGal]

Thanks. I wonder if there's many here in Florida....

Leni