More hummers

It’s been a hummingbird year. We’ve had more hummingbirds feeding at our feeders this year than we’ve seen since we moved here 16 years ago. In Oregon we had belligerent Rufus, but these are the smaller, shyer Black Chinned hummingbirds, replacing the Annas we had all winter and early spring,

We feed them all. A 12-ounce feeder empties so fast that Jim bought two more feeders so he could keep a spare filled and ready to replace empty ones as soon as the birds empty them. He hung one on the back porch. The second hangs where we can watch it outside the front window. That way we can see it to refill it as soon as the buzzing little birds begin to dip frantically, distressed at an obviously emptied feeder.

Both bottles needed filling three or four times each day. It was only seconds until they’d return to the filled feeders, and stay at the feeder until dark. We refill the feeder when they are done, so they will have a fresh full bottle to begin the day, but they often empty them by the time we get up at seven.

“Greedy little suckoos,” Jim remarks.

We seem to have fewer mosquitoes and spiders this year and wonder if the hummingbirds are eating them as we watch them pick into tiny cracks outside the windows where the tiny baby spiders hide.

The past few days the flock seems to have thinned. Probably the baby hummingbirds are maturing and moving on. We expect another hatching before long, which is the reason we use plain sugar to make their syrup. They do not need red-dyed syrup to attract them. Red dye is said to make them sterile so they can’t have babies. We mix the syrup with three parts hot water to one part regular sugar. Stir well to dissolve the sugar. Do not use honey as it can spoil and make the birds sick.