Hummingbirds 2024

[Merrymeeting]

Originally Posted by jeffk

I put a feeder in the front and in the back to hopefully cut down on the squabbling. Unfortunately, once they get into "fight" mode, that's all they know. When they are calm, they use both feeders. But if they happen to both show up at the same feeder, "Game's on!". The arial dive bombing and the audible cry puts on quite a show. Both feeders are in front of windows so we have prime seats.

They also have their "watching perch" to keep an eye on the food source. In the front, it's the lilac bush. In the back, it's the clothes line. We have had 4 birds (sometimes even non hummingbirds) sitting on the clothes line and that's cool. Let one of them move to the feeder (unless it's the boss or a favored female) and they get shooed away. It's harder to see them in the lilac bush. The watcher is usually there but the wannabes are usually in nearby trees.

Amazes me every year how much energy they waste squabbling with each other. Plenty of feeders and ports but I watched 3 of them go at each other for more than 30 minutes.