No, not THAT kind of hummer. Can you imagine me driving a huge thing like that? I’m quite sure it would be dangerous. I’m talking about hummingbirds. We hung a feeder on the front porch and have been enjoying watching them flit around.
We sometimes have four or five buzzing around the feeder at a time. We’ve found that for such tiny creatures they are very territorial and really kind of mean.
They chase the others off and dive bomb the ones feeding if they don’t approve.
Since they were drinking down the juice so quickly, we hung another feeder just outside the kitchen window.
It is right outside the window so you get a close up view of the birds.
They seem to really appreciate the feeder that has a little perch for them to sit on while they feed. It is amazing how much those little things can drink! I usually have to refill the feeder – which holds about two cups – every day.
I had always seen feeders filled with red liquid and thought you had to add the food color to attract the birds. My neighbor Celia – who has been feeding the hummers around here for years – said not so. Once they know where the feeder is, they drink the clear liquid with no problem at all. In fact, it is better for them not to add the food coloring.
And she was right! I left out the food color and they didn’t care at all. We have also learned that they make little bird sounds. Usually you only hear the “humming” of their wings, but when they are chasing each other around they also make little chirping noises.
We don’t know how long in the season they will stay here – they must fly south at some point? We used to have them nesting on our patio in Bakersfield every spring. We will enjoy them while they are here.
