Hummers.....

So...A week or so ago we were going thru a Padre Keno bottle of hummingbird feed each day....suddenly they disappeard..we're down to 2 or 3 birds....Anybody else experience this? (please, no dumb comments about getting them drunk)

I just boil water & add sugar to it (1/2 cup sugar to 2 cups water), let it cool & fill the feeder with it. You might have one hummer that's a bully & has driven the others away. Try adding another feeder so you have more than one.

What's Padre Keno hummingbird food?

Padre Keno..mexican wine. The wide mouth bottles are perfect for making up bird feed...1 cup sugar, top off with water, shake occasionaly until dissolved. Yields 1 liter. We did have 2 feeders going...did have a bully last year, not this year. They just left, seems like overnight. Poof!

It is important to boil the sugar water mixture before feeding the hummers, not just dissolve the sugar. They can't digest it unless it is broken down totally.
*OK I just googled that concept (boiling the water/sugar) and there are hummingbird sites who say it is not required to boil the syrup. I was an avid hummingbird feeder NoB and was always told that it was important but I guess I was misinformed.*

They might be feeding on the profusion of flowers blooming this time of year. Try a second feeder and see if you can entice them back?

I'll check that out...makes since, but never been a problem before. Thanks.

GBATRUCKS wrote:Padre Keno..mexican wine. The wide mouth bottles are perfect for making up bird feed...1 cup sugar, top off with water, shake occasionaly until dissolved. Yields 1 liter. We did have 2 feeders going...did have a bully last year, not this year. They just left, seems like overnight. Poof!

Oh, sorry. I thought it was some kind of hummingbird food. I wash the feeders every time I fill them as well. It doesn't take long for gunk or slimy stuff to invade the feeders. It's kind of fun to watch the bullies. I had one that sat a ways away to watch HIS feeder & he'd swoop in on any other birds who dared to try to take a drink.

GBATRUCKS wrote:I'll check that out...makes since, but never been a problem before. Thanks.

I edited the original post after checking out the idea of boiling the water again. A lot of bird sites say it isn't required. Who know's?

Grizzy wrote:It is important to boil the sugar water mixture before feeding the hummers, not just dissolve the sugar. They can't digest it unless it is broken down totally.
*OK I just googled that concept (boiling the water/sugar) and there are hummingbird sites who say it is not required to boil the syrup. I was an avid hummingbird feeder NoB and was always told that it was important but I guess I was misinformed.*

They might be feeding on the profusion of flowers blooming this time of year. Try a second feeder and see if you can entice them back?

I just googled & found the same...What I'm wondering is, is anybody else witnessing the missing hummers?

Carry Bean wrote:

GBATRUCKS wrote:Padre Keno..mexican wine. The wide mouth bottles are perfect for making up bird feed...1 cup sugar, top off with water, shake occasionaly until dissolved. Yields 1 liter. We did have 2 feeders going...did have a bully last year, not this year. They just left, seems like overnight. Poof!

Oh, sorry. I thought it was some kind of hummingbird food. I wash the feeders every time I fill them as well. It doesn't take long for gunk or slimy stuff to invade the feeders. It's kind of fun to watch the bullies. I had one that sat a ways away to watch HIS feeder & he'd swoop in on any other birds who dared to try to take a drink.

We wash them each time too...Also, if you can take the base apart, you might find a bunch of those little black wasps inside!

I had bees go after mine one time. I hated seeing them dead in the bottom so I quit feeding for a few weeks & they didn't come around again.

I seem to have less hummers in the summer than in the fall & winter.

[b]"Most North American hummingbirds migrate to Mexico or Central South America every winter. Learn how hummingbirds in warmer climates may stay all year round with information from a professional wildlife biologist and naturalist in this free video on bird watching."

Read more: Video: Hummingbird Migration Routes | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/video_4774941_hummingbird-migration-routes.html#ixzz227QyjCbm

http://www.hummingbirds.net/migration.html

Carry Bean wrote:I had bees go after mine one time. I hated seeing them dead in the bottom so I quit feeding for a few weeks & they didn't come around again.

...Had a big problem earlier this year. Switched back to some older feeders that had a taller "flower" so the bird beaks could get the food but the bees couldn't. That solved the problem. It's amazing how much feed those wasps went thru! BTW, the article in the Guad Reporter about the humming bird lady in Ajijic...the photo of her & her feeders...those tall cylindrical feeders look just like the ones we used to use before the wasps took over. If anybody knows her & if she is feeding more wasps than birds, suggest she switch to a feeder with a tall flower...We cut our feed bill by at least 1/3.

The bats were emptying our feeder every night, finally just took it down,still get lots of hummers attracted to our flowers.

I also have noticed a sudden decrease in my hummingbird population. This happened about two weeks ago. I have always had a "Bully Bird" but that did not stop the others from coming in to feed. I went from filling the feeder twice a day to now only filling half full each day. I am glad to hear that others are also seeing a decrease in population at the feeders. Now I know I did nothing to offend them...

CheenaGringo wrote:[b]"Most North American hummingbirds migrate to Mexico or Central South America every winter. Learn how hummingbirds in warmer climates may stay all year round with information from a professional wildlife biologist and naturalist in this free video on bird watching."

Read more: Video: Hummingbird Migration Routes | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/video_4774941_hummingbird-migration-routes.html#ixzz227QyjCbm

http://www.hummingbirds.net/migration.html

This makes sense. When I lived NoB I had a huge influx of hummers during the summer months and only one species stayed year round so my feeder bills were a fraction after Nov 1. Perhaps the combo of more flowers and more birds migrating are the reason? If so then come Oct or so the population should be up significantly.

And I understand that the hummingbird lady is on a fixed income so perhaps cannot afford to replace her feeders. I know that for her birthday a few weeks ago her friends requested donations of bags of sugar to help her out.

I haven't found much of a selection of feeders here, mostly the plastic kind at the hardware store by Illumina Decora & a cute strawberry shaped plastic one at the Animal Shelter. Is anyone selling the glass type in this area?

...Had a big problem earlier this year. Switched back to some older feeders that had a taller "flower" so the bird beaks could get the food but the bees couldn't. That solved the problem. [/quote]

Do you know if these 'older' feeders can be purchased at Lakeside? Thanks.

jle wrote:I also have noticed a sudden decrease in my hummingbird population. This happened about two weeks ago. I have always had a "Bully Bird" but that did not stop the others from coming in to feed. I went from filling the feeder twice a day to now only filling half full each day. I am glad to hear that others are also seeing a decrease in population at the feeders. Now I know I did nothing to offend them...

That's just about exactly what we are experiencing.

Frijoles wrote:
...Had a big problem earlier this year. Switched back to some older feeders that had a taller "flower" so the bird beaks could get the food but the bees couldn't. That solved the problem.

Do you know if these 'older' feeders can be purchased at Lakeside? Thanks.[/quote]

...Saw them @ the animal shelter in Ajijic last week...over in the food/bird room...think they were $70 Pesos...red, strawberry shaped. Only pain is it takes a funnel to fill the 1/2 inch mouth & being red, you have to look close to check the fill leval.

GBATRUCKS wrote:So...A week or so ago we were going thru a Padre Keno bottle of hummingbird feed each day....suddenly they disappeard..we're down to 2 or 3 birds....Anybody else experience this? (please, no dumb comments about getting them drunk)

WEW.... I read yer title and thought this was a XXX thread....that or a Car & Driver thread.... or both

thankfully, it wuz the little birds.... someone gett'n them drunk??

Carry Bean wrote:I haven't found much of a selection of feeders here, mostly the plastic kind at the hardware store by Illumina Decora & a cute strawberry shaped plastic one at the Animal Shelter. Is anyone selling the glass type in this area?

They have glass ones at the animal shelter, a lot more expensive though.

I use a Pyrex glass measuring cup with a spout & don't need a funnel so you might try that if you have one of the strawberry shaped ones. A 2 cup measuring cup fills it perfectly with no extra. I'll look there for the glass kind.

It appears that I might have made a bleary-eyed mistake... the fault lies entirely on The Gin... by making an unwarranted and unwanted contribution to the Hummer Thread.
The other contributers seem to have the sense of humor of a shithouse rat
and are obviously totally enthrawled in their sugarwater discussion....

What can I say.... I thought someone would welcome some relief....

I don't have a sugarwater thingy.... but I don't have a slingshot either

hockables wrote:It appears that I might have made a bleary-eyed mistake...

Well don't get all teary-eyed cause nobody laughed at your joke.jajaja