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Originally Posted by Janie
I've heard that you should change the nectar frequently. I do it every couple of weeks and I think I should do it more often than that. They still come and visit in the morning usually.
Last weekend, we had two hummingbirds at the feeder and one was doing some kind of mating dance or something while the other one was eating. The one that was doing the mating dance (or whatever) was flying up and down in a large "U" shape fashion in different directions. It was interesting to watch. I even got some pictures of them at the feeder. I have to download them to my laptop and put them up here soon.
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The sugar water does need changing fairly often, especially when the air temperature is warm. We generally change ours every week or so. Many people put red food coloring in the water, which the experts say should be avoided because chemicals in the food coloring may be toxic to the birds. They say the hummers are attracted by the red feeder and yellow flower petals, not by the color of the sugar water. We use clear sugar water and the birds like it fine.
We are fortunate in that our area in West Alton seems to have an abundance of hummers. We have put out three individual feeders in different spots because the male hummers are so territorial. I believe the "U" shaped display you have seen is actually one male asserting himself to another male who has invaded his territory. We have seen this fairly often, usually by one male while another male is feeding at a feeder the displaying male considers to be "his". The display is often accompanied by lots of loud chirping by the displaying male.
Every year within a few days of putting out our feeders in the spring, dominant male hummers claim each of the feeders as their own. Each dominant male sits on a perch somewhere within eyesight of "his" feeder and aggressively goes after any other male who attempts to feed there. They often seem to leave the females who feed at "their" feeders alone, although sometimes even the females are chased away. Usually the invading male will leave when chased away by the dominant male, but sometimes the invading male is just as courageous as the male who claims the feeder, and he refuses to leave. That's often when we see the "U" shaped flight display by the hummer who thinks the feeder is "his". At other times, the two males will sometimes each land on the feeder and drink the sugar water together.
The hummers are always interesting to watch! At our house, the most feeding activity often occurs at dusk, when it appears that the birds are all stocking up for the night.