Anyone get hummingbirds on their tomato cages?

curious2garden

curious2garden

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Staff member
GanjaJack said:
Deer and door always made me curious. You can say Deer but not Deers, But you can say door and doors... Same with Goose and Geese but not Moose and Meese.



HAHA!! Yeap, same here!!

I think it's just cool how a tiny wild bird interacts so intelligently with humans.

We've even had them come up to us just before they leave for the winter time, almost like "Thank you, see yah next year, wanted to let you know we're leaving.".....

Then the next Spring, they will fly right up to our faces like "Hi! We're back, put the feeder up please!"....
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I live in the Mojave Desert and some of them overwinter here. I really wish they wouldn't as it gets terribly cold. I keep the feeders up and filled all year. I worry I'm keeping them here. I know some migrate as the population decreases dramatically but not all.

Here is one of mine that overwintered and ended up on my cold pavement. After some warming he was fine
1627902467534.png
 
Token Dankies

Token Dankies

Well-Known Member
they are so darn smart, it is really amazing how a cute little bird can bring people together hahahahhaa! My neighbor has like 5 feeders and she has grown the flock over the last 10 years so she has like 30 buzzing around it is like a hummingbirds upscale bar.
 
Token Dankies

Token Dankies

Well-Known Member
curious2garden said:
I live in the Mojave Desert and some of them overwinter here. I really wish they wouldn't as it gets terribly cold. I keep the feeders up and filled all year. I worry I'm keeping them here. I know some migrate as the population decreases dramatically but not all.

Here is one of mine that overwintered and ended up on my cold pavement. After some warming he was fine
View attachment 4956404
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glad you got the little bugger back to life, I had two birds chasing each other hit a window and fall in my lap. I thought they were goners for sure but nothin felt better than watching them come back to life after an hour and flying away.
 
Sqwee

Sqwee

Well-Known Member
GanjaJack said:
What the....... Woah!!

Yeh the other birds here don't mess with the hummers here. We get blue jays but they like peanuts mostly.

A new thing here is eagles they are repopulating NY pretty darn good now. I saw two of them get into a struggle in my back field, they were grappling each other in mid air, trying to throw each other to the ground, frickin' one of the most amazing things I ever saw in my life.

Except the flock of about 1000 turkey that went through my yard one time, ( I didn't know it was a huge flock, I saw a couple turkey and wanted to get my dog all hyped up, so I let her out... and then just sat there in amazement as 100's and 100's of turkeys started taking off and flying over to the next hill.. Never seen nothing like that......
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Now that's cool, I lived in Upstate NY from 88-94 and can't remember ever seeing an eagle. Last time I was there visiting family I was hiking in the Catskill and kicked up some type of bird, largest wingspan I've ever seen, it startled me. My uncle said it might have been an Albatross.

Have you had a chance to see hummingbird courtship? Its pretty neat, they fly high up in the air and then dive bomb the ground, making this high pitched sound, I thought it was just them doing a high pitched chirp but its actually their tail feathers that make the sound and different types of hummingbirds make different sounds with their tail feathers.

 
StonedGardener

StonedGardener

Well-Known Member
curious2garden said:
I live in the Mojave Desert and some of them overwinter here. I really wish they wouldn't as it gets terribly cold. I keep the feeders up and filled all year. I worry I'm keeping them here. I know some migrate as the population decreases dramatically but not all.

Here is one of mine that overwintered and ended up on my cold pavement. After some warming he was fine
View attachment 4956404
Click to expand...
I was always told my my elders(they are long gone)to take down feeders at end of summer; no food source forces hummingbirds to leave/migrate. I'm in NE however, where winters are ........you know. I always felt bad taking away there sustenance, but I know what's coming in months ahead.
 
StonedGardener

StonedGardener

Well-Known Member
curious2garden said:
I planted Dahlia bulbs and not one grew. I was so disappointed. Yours look lovely
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Thanks.......I like them because they throw tons of flowers from early summer to the 1st frost, usually mid October.......gardening in the Mojave has to be quite the challenge. I got a little taste of that desert driving from Phoenix to Vegas back in early 70's. I remember it was basically a very long, straight, flat road (one small hump ) where I was constantly attacked by tumbleweeds......very hypnotic experience. It was beautiful......loved the vastness and desolation.
 
Kushash

Kushash

Well-Known Member
I had two sitting on tomato cage wires today. They left before I got a camera. I'll catch a pic of one in the near future.
The females will drink water when I'm a foot away. The male who patrols the area is more skittish.
I don't know if this was said but I think it's best to try to have water feeders in the shade especially in the desert.
 
GanjaJack

GanjaJack

Well-Known Member
You guys!!!!!!!

Yesterday searching around Amazon Primevideos looking for nature videos, I found.....

David Attenborough's documentary on Hummingbirds.. <--- If you look up Hummingbirds, am sure it will pop up in Amazon.

TONS of information in there that I had NO idea about. Very interesting to watch.
 
GanjaJack

GanjaJack

Well-Known Member
Kushash said:
I had two sitting on tomato cage wires today. They left before I got a camera. I'll catch a pic of one in the near future.
The females will drink water when I'm a foot away. The male who patrols the area is more skittish.
I don't know if this was said but I think it's best to try to have water feeders in the shade especially in the desert.
Click to expand...

I keep my feeder up under my porch and have a flower bed that's 20 foot away..... They seem to come to my feeder as a primary, and then if someone's on the feeder they will use the flowers as a back up.
 
GanjaJack

GanjaJack

Well-Known Member
StonedGardener said:
Dahlias banging and the pollinators are on the move...View attachment 4956550View attachment 4956551View attachment 4956552
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When I was watching the Attenborough documentary on Hummingbirds he said that Hummers don't like bees or hornets and instead of fighting with them and expending energy, they just avoid and move on.

Not this Hummingbird... the one that sits on the tomato cage pushed the bee off the feeder using it's beak. No hard fast rules apply with these birds I don't think. Except the one where they aren't able to hop or walk...
 
StonedGardener

StonedGardener

Well-Known Member
GanjaJack said:
When I was watching the Attenborough documentary on Hummingbirds he said that Hummers don't like bees or hornets and instead of fighting with them and expending energy, they just avoid and move on.

Not this Hummingbird... the one that sits on the tomato cage pushed the bee off the feeder using it's beak. No hard fast rules apply with these birds I don't think. Except the one where they aren't able to hop or walk...
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Very macho hummer.......I'm like the ones Attenborough observed, avoid.and move.....save my energy. Have you seen the videos of "praying mantis bodyslamming a hummer" ? It's a trip.
 
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