We have been feeding the hummingbirds around here for several years and have a nice bunch of hummingbirds enjoying our feeders and fountain every day. There are three species we see all the time. They fight – and sit in the trees and click – and fly through the house from one feeder to another – and even nest in our bamboo.
My favorite is the Cinnamon Hummingbird. They are the biggest of the three that we see a lot. They dominate our back yard feeder, and since at about 4 inches, they can!
The Fork-Tailed Emerald Hummingbird is the most plentiful of all. The aerial acrobatics that they perform are just amazing! And they LOVE to take baths – the little bubble at the top of our fountain is their favorite and they will click and buzz if we forget to turn it on right away in the morning. They are fastidious, too – most seem to want a bath both in the morning and at night.
We recently became aware that there is a third species in our yard – the Little Hermit Hummingbird. It seems to be indifferent to competition and will drink away at the feeder as other hummers come and go.
Our hummingbirds now have competition for the nectar we provide . both the Orchard Oriole and the Hooded Oriole.
The orioles drink from the feeder by sort of sitting on it and curving their beak around to use their long tongue to slurp up the nectar. They are pretty good at it, and are careful not to spill a drop. Maybe they know that the lady who fills them would get cranky if they wasted too much!
They make an interesting noise that I notice right away. Then the hummingbirds start doing their territorial clicking, but that wouldn’t scare an oriole!
Orioles also like fruit and fruit jelly, so I am trying to entice them to a piece of fruit that is about 10 feet from the feeder. I imagine it will take a few days for them to notice it, though.
Our kitchen table in the sala fresca is right in the flight path between the two feeders. Of course our windows are open all day! I can see both feeders from where I sit and I truly enjoy watching all the bird antics around here.
Sonja
November 21, 2010Hey Nancy,
Your pics are really great!
We have two hummingbird feeders on the roofdeck and we absolutly love watching the antics every day, especially in the morning with our coffee. Sometimes we get as many as 6-8 flying around one feeder. Looks a bit too frantic.
We have a pair of slim, larger yellow hummingbirds that I have tried to source but have found nothing about them. They are completly deep yellow except a bit of black mixed in with the outside of the wings. Are they unusual to you?
What kind of mix to you use?
cheers,
Sonja
Nancy
November 21, 2010Hi Sonja,
I bet the hummingbirds you are asking about are the Cinnamon. There is a variation in color – I would call some more buff than yellow but they are the largest ones we see around here. I looked in my book and all of the ones with any yellow on them are small or chubby looking with lots of green. The Cinnamons are pretty slim. Maybe look at these photos and see if they look right? It’s a photo search for Cinnamon Hummingbird.
http://www.google.com.mx/images?hl=en&source=imghp&biw=1268&bih=622&q=cinnamon+hummingbird&gbv=2&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=
Nancy
November 21, 2010Sonja, I forgot, sorry. I use 1 cup sugar to 4 cups water. N.
Steve Cotton
November 25, 2010As aleways, great biord photographs. I am just getting caught up with blog material. It is amazing what needs to be done after leaving a house empty for six months. But it is good to be back in Mexico. Several people said they missed you at the conference. I was one.