Little family of hummers

We have been getting a male and female hummer or a while. Now we have a little one, smaller then the others. very cute.Im thinking it is a baby..... I did not know til now ,that hummers squeak... its funny, but you really have to listen...I can only getone at a time to the feeders

Hi,
I just spotted your thread. I'm surprised no one else responded so I decided to.

Welcome to Dave's Garden and congrats on your hummers. They're an absolute joy to have around and are truly special.

Hummers don't create "families". In fact the male's only contribution is to provide his genes. After their brief paring, the female builds the nest, incubates the eggs and raises the babies.

Hummers are also extremely competitive and combative when it comes to a food source and Ruby-throats are one of the most competitive there is. You'll rarely see two at the same feeder. Those pictures you see of lots of hummers at one feeder don't generally happen unless there are so many of them that the dominant birds can't chase everyone away. In that case they'll begin to share.

The "smaller" bird probably isn't a baby. The young hummers are pretty much full-size by the time you'll see them. Hummers vary in size, but the smaller one might even be the mother. She expends so much energy raising her babies that she loses weight and the babies are usually larger than her by the time they leave the nest. You might see Mom and a baby at the feeder at one time, but she won't tolerate it for very long. Eventually her own baby is just another competitor when it comes to food.

If you haven't seen it yet, this link is to a wonderful web site about hummers...it's very popular with Dave's Garden members. It has lots of info on many varieties, plus a great migration map for the Ruby-throated. This link is to the RT info page, but I think you'll enjoy the whole site.

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

Although Ruby-throats are THE Hummingbird of the Eastern U.S., there are others that could stray into your area. Usually you won't see multiple species at a feeder, they are too territorial.