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Keep Your Hummingbird Feeders Up
Written by Bill Thompson, III, Oct 04, 2017 Comments »
You've probably heard the myth: Take down your hummingbird feeders in the fall or the hummers will "forget" to migrate. It's not true. Birds, including the hummingbirds at our feeders, are programmed by instinct to migrate when their inner clocks tell them to leave.
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The Diversity of Hummingbirds
Written by Dawn Hewitt, Aug 02, 2017 Comments »
Only one species of hummingbird nests the East, but fifteen species of hummingbird breed in North America, including the orange rufous hummingbird. Hundreds more live in Central and South America, ranging from the tiny blue bee hummingbird, to the robin-sized giant hummingbird.
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Ask Birdsquatch: Hummer Bummer
Written by Birdsquatch, Jul 26, 2017 Comments »
Dear Birdsquatch: My hummingbirds are ignoring my feeder. I've had it up for a month now but not a single bird has taken a drink. They visit it, look at it, and leave. What’s going on?
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Little Betty
Posted on Sep 28, 2016 Comments »
Even though nesting season is over for the year, we couldn't resist sharing this photo, sent by Marie Noplos, of Fergus Falls, Minnesota. She wrote, "This is a photo I took of a female rubythroated hummingbird feeding her two babies. Little Betty, as my 11-year-old daughter named her, built her nest in the flowering dogwood tree in our backyard. I was on our deck one day and saw her going back and forth across the yard, snatching cobwebs and carrying them to the tree. I assume this is her first year of nesting because the tree limb is not very sturdy and less than 15 feet from a busy road in town..."
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Helping Hummingbirds in Fall
Posted on Sep 09, 2016 Comments »
It's a myth that a hummingbird, or any bird for that matter, will be deterred from heading south in the fall because of human-provided food. Instinct and hormonal urges are what drive birds to migrate, and hummingbirds are no different. Besides, there is good reason to leave your nectar feeder up and full of fresh sugar water until the temperature dips to below freezing, even if you haven't seen a hummer for weeks.
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A Surprise Winter Visitor
Written by Jeane Pirkle, Feb 01, 2016 Comments »
For years Jeane Pirkle has kept a feeder up long after the hummingbirds leave with the hope of attracting a winter hummingbird. She continued that practice during the fall of 2013. In late October she noticed a single bird visiting her feeder each day. At first she thought it was a female ruby-throated hummingbird, but it turned out to be a rare visitor to her area during the winter months.
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Cool Hummingbird Facts!
Posted on Apr 02, 2015 Comments »
You don't need to be a bird expert to know that hummingbirds are cool! Check out this list of facts about these flying jewels of the bird world.
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Hummingbird Nectar Recipe
Posted on Jun 13, 2014 Comments »
Want to make your own nectar for feeding hummingbirds? It's easy! All you need is the right proportion of sugar and water.
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Gardening for Hummingbirds
Posted on Apr 29, 2014 Comments »
If you only have a little room in your garden, or want to simplify things and plant a few flowers that really appeal to hummingbirds, you can't go wrong with these recommendations.
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A Rare Hummingbird
Written by Dawn Hewitt, Mar 24, 2014 Comments »
Ruth Witmer feeds hummingbirds. She lives in eastern Pennsylvania, where ruby-throated hummingbirds normally make their annual debut in mid- to late April. Last April, Ruth put her sugar-water mixture out in mid-April before she had seen the first hummingbird of 2013. What she saw on April 20 was not what she expected. It was a hummingbird all right, but sure looked different.
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Hummer Trouble
Posted on Aug 02, 2013 Comments »
Any backyard in North America can expect to have hummingbirds during the warmer months of the year (April through late September). But sometimes those hummingbirds don't get along. Other times, uninvited guests help themselves to the sweet nectar in your feeders. Here are some solutions to a few of the most common problems that plague North American hummingbirders.
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Hummingbirds 101: How to Attract and Keep Hummers in Your Backyard
Posted on May 09, 2013 Comments »
How does one lure these winged jewels into the backyard for easy viewing? Better yet, how does one keep hummingbirds hanging around throughout the entire season? Attracting backyard hummingbirds is not as difficult as you might think. Like all birds, hummers need food, water, and shelter. Here are a few tips to help you provide these basic necessities for your backyard hummingbirds.
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Tracking Hummingbird Migration
Written by Kyle Carlsen, Apr 25, 2013 Comments »
The return of the first ruby-throated hummingbird is one of the most highly anticipated spring events in eastern North America. Although a few of these winged gems spend the winter months in parts of the southern United States, the vast majority winter in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. Each year the hummingbirds travel remarkable distances between their wintering grounds and their summer breeding areas, which span from the Gulf of Mexico to southern Canada.
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The Latest Comments

  • Re: Welcome to Watching Backyard Birds.com!
    #18 in the Gallery is misidentified as a Tree Sparrow, instead of Tree Swallow.
    by Ron, Mon, 23 Apr 2018
  • Re: Backyard Tip: Crushed Eggshells Are for the Birds
    yep i do the microwave too....they don't break down in our compost so the birds get them!
    by ecumam2, Wed, 18 Apr 2018
  • Re: Dear Birdsquatch: Spring Cleaning Below the Bird Feeder
    As you probably know, sunflower seed hulls have a bio-chemical in them, (allelopathic), which keeps any other seeds from sprouting, in the same area. I have used this fact, to a purpose. With a large build up, each year (& yes, it is a bare spot!), I rake up the "bounty" & spread them on areas of bulbs & perennials to keep the annual weeds down. It's also helpful near blue squill bulbs, which drop seeds through the fence that divides a perennial garden, from the lawn , where they are welcome to naturalize. The garden can be over run with them, so sunflower hulls can keep the sprouting down.
    by Plntlady, Tue, 17 Apr 2018
  • Re: Dear Birdsquatch: Spring Cleaning Below the Bird Feeder
    I do this in a small garden, near our road, where winter road sand can build up & bury the small, low-growing plants that live there. In spring I just pick up the burlap & shake it back onto the road, before the road crew comes by with the street sweeper, in spring.
    by Plntlady, Tue, 17 Apr 2018
  • Re: Ask Birdsquatch: What do Insect-eating Species Eat in the Winter?
    Thanks, now I can not worry so much. It's April 17, here in NE Vt. & is snowing big snowflakes. Yesterday we have scary, high winds & it's refusing to be spring. A phoebe, which was so puffed up I didn't recognize it, except for it's insectivore beak, showed up near the feeders, on my porch. It flew to a low branch, in a sugar maple & has been huddled there for quite a while. I was sure it was a phoebe when I observed it's tail bobbing, when first landing. I assume it is now being still, trying to reserve body heat. I have a frozen, cut pomegranate, hanging from the porch & we have an ample supply of sumac berries & other native fruiting plants, so hopefully it will find what it needs.... Also spotted a brown creeper, on the trunk of one of our big, old sugar maples, this morning.
    by Plntlady, Tue, 17 Apr 2018
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