Saw our first hummingbird of the season on Thursday

This topic has 11 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 5 years, 2 months ago by chocomouse.

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August 17, 2019 at 1:29 pm #17694
Mike Nolan
Keymaster
We put the hummingbird feeders out last weekend because there were reports that the fall migration had started, but we've only seen one ruby-throat hummingbird so far, on Thursday. Usually the peak is in mid September. Last year we had one afternoon when there were so many we couldn't count them, probably well over a dozen.

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August 19, 2019 at 12:13 pm #17747
Mike Nolan
Keymaster
We've seen an adult female several times and an adult male at least once. And when I was picking tomatoes yesterday, I could hear several hummingbirds chittering at me, so we probably have at least 4 of them in the yard.

I added one sighting to the Journey North log.
August 19, 2019 at 5:09 pm #17750
BakerAunt
Participant
I saw a hummingbird yesterday while visiting a friend. They have feeders in front of their windows. We need to put ours out as soon as the rest of the construction stuff is out of the way.
August 19, 2019 at 5:14 pm #17751
Mike Nolan
Keymaster
As far as I know we only get ruby-throated hummingbirds here, though there have been two confirmed sightings of Anna's hummingbirds in Nebraska in the past few years.

Wisconsin is apparently the place to be for rare hummingbird sightings in the midwest, the roufous/allen's hummingbird and the very rare green violetear have both been sighted there in the past few years, usually late in the season for hummingbirds.
August 19, 2019 at 6:32 pm #17752
S_Wirth
Participant
Scroll down on this page and look at all the gorgeous hummingbird species that nay be seen in the USA. First click on Keep Watching, on next screen scroll down and click on Species Info to see the many kinds.

http://cams.allaboutbirds.org/channel/50/West_Texas_Hummingbirds/

A birding friend of mine lives in west central WI and she has the most feeders I have ever seen...she has shown us videos of the feeders just covered with hummers...the sound is unbelievable when they all want a chance for the sugar water. It would be safe to say she has over 100 hummers at a time crawling all over the feeders.

The fiesty litte rufous is my favorite. We still have our local hummers here working the rose of sharon in our yard.
- This reply was modified 5 years, 3 months ago by S_Wirth.
August 20, 2019 at 11:01 am #17770
Mike Nolan
Keymaster
I think we have 7 feeders up at the moment, and that's about how many we had last year. (Our favorite window feeder broke, and I can't find another like it locally.)

On the peak day last year, around mid-September, we had one day where we were both getting counts well over a dozen. Hummingbirds are very competitive, they'll stake out one feeder or even a group of feeders and spend a lot more time defending it against other hummingbirds than actually feeding. Audubon says that many hummingbirds will nearly double their weight in the fall before taking off for their winter homes.
August 21, 2019 at 7:20 am #17779
chocomouse
Participant
Such an interesting conversation! I was confused for a bit, until I remembered Mike lives in Nebraska and I am in Vermont; I was thinking that our hummingbirds start arriving about May 1st, but that is the north-migration. The hummers here, ruby-throat only, start their migration in early August, and by mid-August they are gone, except for the occasional laggard. We can hardly keep the feeders filled during those couple of weeks. Now, I'm going to look at the south-migration map for the route they take from New England. I'm wondering how far west they travel on they south-bound journey.
September 8, 2019 at 3:08 pm #18089
Mike Nolan
Keymaster
Yesterday was the first time this fall we've seen more than one hummingbird at a time.

Today it looks like there are at least 4 of them chasing each other around, none of them landing anywhere or feeding.

Looking at the migration maps on the Journey North site, this appears to be part of a somewhat unusual migration pattern, birds are staying further north but then skipping their usual intermediate stops, like us.
September 8, 2019 at 3:52 pm #18092
BakerAunt
Participant
Our neighbors have a hummingbird feeder out, so some have gone there. We've seen some at our Veronia (a purple stalk flower) on our terrace, but we've not seen more than one at a time. Yesterday's bird was tiny, even by hummingbird standards.
September 8, 2019 at 3:54 pm #18094
Joan Simpson
Participant
My husband was sitting in the swing on porch and one came and hovered right in his face,he said it was so close and pretty.
September 8, 2019 at 5:54 pm #18096
S_Wirth
Participant
These little ones are busy:

http://cams.allaboutbirds.org/channel/50/West_Texas_Hummingbirds/
September 8, 2019 at 6:51 pm #18097
chocomouse
Participant
We have not seen a hummingbird here since early to mid-August. They began the long journey south in early August. But they'll return the first week in May.
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