Finally!

For a few years now I've been trying my best to plant the right plants to attract hummingbirds while diligently filling and rinsing and re-filling my hummingbird feeders to no avail. Last year I saw one (1) hummingbird zip through my yard that stopped to visit some plants. That was it, one (1) hummingbird. In fall after the trees drop their leaves, I can see their tiny little nests so I have always known hummers were around but they sure never came to visit my feeders. Last night while I was doing dishes, I spotted movement around my hummingbird feeder. I looked out the window thinking it was a goldfinch because I do have a thistle seed feeder real close to the humingbird feeder and about dropped my jaw when I saw my very first hummingbird at MY hummingbird feeder. I can't tell you how thrilled I was. I've got screens on my windows and they are dirty from rain and dust and such but it looked like the hummingbird was a female Buff-Bellied hummer based on photos I found online. One big problem with this identificiation, it can't be a Buff-Bellied hummer because the breeding range of the Buff-Bellied Hummingbird "barely reaches the U.S. along the Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas. However, the wintering range of the species takes in most of the western and northern U.S. Gulf Coast" and I am in Illinois up by the IL/WI border. That's slightly out of range... by only a only a thousand miles. Time to clean that one window and remove the screen!

Happy for you! I had shrubs removed from the front of my house, outside the windows of two guest rooms, and put in a hummingbird garden... all kinds of salvia, bee balm, columbine, etc. And I put a feeder in the middle of all of it. It didn't take long for them to find it last summer.
They've been few this year for some reason... I'm sure it will pick up these next couple months. Such a welcome sight when they're back from a long absence. I can't help but be thrilled when they return to my house after flying such a long way from their wintering grounds!

I think a part of the problem is where I put the feeder which is right next to the back patio and about 10' from my kitchen window. Not much in that area in the way of nectar species. I sort of did that for selfish reasons so I'd have a better shot at watching what came to visit. In retrospect, I should have placed the shepherd's pole with the feeder smack dab in the middle of the types of plants they like as you did.

I actually have at least one feeder on all four sides of my house... I have one on a suction cup thing hanging from my kitchen window where there's nothing nectar around except for the feeder itself... I did this to keep the bully hummers busy so they didn't scare other hummers away. They can't be territorial with five feeders at one time!
They'll find your feeders... no worries there. A lot of others have mentioned the lack of hummers so far this season. I know when they finally do come in great numbers, I can't wear red in my yard because they'll dive bomb me.

Ha ha, can't wear red or they'll dive bomb you. Wish I had that problem. I'll get another shepherd's hook today and hang another feeder and I do intend to remove the screen from that kitchen window so I can put up a suction cup feeder.

I have two suction cup types... one is like a tray that has two suction cups on the back and it goes directly on the window... I looked for a pic but couldn't find one...the other is just a suction cup and then a cheap Walmart plastic hummingbird feeder with a hook that I hook onto the suction cup... the latter is my favorite... the other one is too easy for the ants to get all over... they simply climb up to the window and crawl all over and down into the openings on the feeder. The other one is much better....

Equil, if they're around they should come to your feeder no matter where you hang it. I've got mine outside the kitchen window for selfish reasons also, and they are there non stop all day long. The flowers for them are elsewhere in the yard.
Could be they didn't like your choice of food. You don't mention if you are mixing your own or buying the powder mixes from the store. I buy mine - and when I purchased a cheaper kind last year they all disappeared. I threw the whole box away, they just refused to eat it. They came back when I refilled with the usual mix. I compared ingredients to the kind I usually buy, and the kinds of sugars used were different. My mom's hummers refuse to eat the red-tinted powders, mine love it. It could also be the proximity to the other bird feeders that they don' t like.

They are so fun to watch, I hope you get them to come up to your windows regularly!!

I am mixing my own. I make a gallon at a time (1:3) and keep the excess in the frig. I tried the powdered mixes and somebody told me that was my problem... that I should mix my own. Maybe I should keep mixing my own and try to mix up some of the powdered type too? My brand is the brand they sell at Home Depot. It comes in a box with several packets. What brand are you using and where is it from? Can you tell I want hummers?

I bought another shepherd's hook this afternoon. I already have another hanging style feeder. When my husband comes home, I'll have him remove that kitchen screen and then I'll stick up a suction cup feeder. It's a little one out of amber glass but it should work. I'll get photos of what I have after I get the screen down and the hook in place.

Ants aren't a big issue around here for some reason. The only ants of consequence are the carpenter ants and they're holed up in a large Oak tree over to the south of my feeders. I leave them be.

I mix my own, too Equil... same ratio as you and refrigerate the rest until refill time. I tried the red powder mix stuff but they didn't seem to like it any better and it seemed pointless to buy powder mix when I could just make it out of sugar.
Are your feeders... at least one of them... out in the open enough where they can see the red as they breeze by? Be patient!!! Once they know it's there they'll be frequent customers.

PATIENCE- this is year three of trying that location! Although I didn't start until fall the very first year I put out feeders. I'm actually ok with this. If there was one at that feeder, there will be another one sooner or later.

This afternoon when I bought that shepherd's hook, I also bought this-

I wasn't going to admit to having purchased that table top feeder but I have these overly optimistic hopes of sitting out on our patio and having hummers zooming in to drink from this while I sit at the ready with my camera. Probably ridciulous given I've only had one hummer zing by last year and one hummer at a feeder as of yesterday.

Here's the little amber colored suction cup feeder I have-

Equil, I have read more times that the stuff you buy at the store is basically sugar. So you're paying out the ying yang for sugar that you mix with water. Hmm......

If you go out by your feeder once the activity picks up and you pretty much know when they come, just stand there, poised with your camera, standing very still and they'll zip right on by you and drink from the feeder and you can get the shot. If you're sitting with that table top one and aren't poised and ready to take a picture, they'll zoom away from you when you move to get the camera.

Our hummers literally wait for my dad to get the feeder out for the season. They dive bomb him til he puts it up. When it is up they dive bomb the feeder. We have used the mixture from Wally World and this year I think he mixed his own. Either way they love it and get mad when the feeders are down or empty.

The screen was taken down and I put up the little amber glass feeder. The first thing that happened was the tiny plug let loose and all the sugar water spilled out. That happened a few times. I think the plug might be old or something although I just bought this feeder a few months ago. Plugs do get brittle over time and this one feels brittle. I don't know where to get another mini plug and I think the one I have should be replaced. I don't think this is a great design. The weight of the glass when full seems too much for one little suction cup.

I only have one pack of the store bought mix. I stuck it in the feeder I just set up out front. I'm sort of on the cheap side so I'd lean toward using my own sugar which I can pick up in 5# bags cheap enough.

The table top feeder is sort of laughable right about now but I'm going to set it out anyway. It was an afterthought when I bought it and I guess I must have been having an out of body experience because it does make sense that they'd take off if I tried to move my arm to take a picture. Oh well. Here's hoping I get some activity. It's early in the year. The feeders are in place so we'll see.

Want some ants? I've got tons and tons. I can't have a feeder up this year, simply to many ants. I've never seen so many ants concentrated in one yard. They're literally everywhere. They were like little soldiers marching one by one up the pole to get to the hummingbird feeder. I tried twice and have given up.

Welcome to my yard terry!!! Ants, ants everywhere!!! They are eating my hostas too though not as bad as when they were in their old spot. Ants eat everything here, including whatever is in the house. We put dust down to keep them out. So far so good.

So far, we have only found 2 large ants in the house. Upstairs of course in our daughters room, where she likes to sneak a soda up! I just have never seen so many ants in one yard before. Big black ones, medium black ones, small black ones, gold ones....I am very thankful though that there are NO fire ants any where near here!! I battled them in TN and those things are not only nasty, but they make such huge mounds, it's ridiculous. Did you see that I posted a bug that my husband found in the basement yesterday over in pests? And Ms Equil came on and ID'd it as roach?? I'd rather have ants!!

We installed a pond year before last and it has brought in hundreds of resident birds, and a growing regimen of pond frogs. Also, I planted some euphorbias last year (a tall perennial, the silver-plumed variety) and found out that they were a big butterfly magnet!!! Also, cimicfuga (aka "silver candles") another perennial that I've planted attracts butterflies and bees. This was also a great surprise!! We saw more yellow and black BFs and those with black and blue patterns that I have yet to identify.

Don't think of that bug as a roach... think of it as "Ralph" or "Rubin" or "Roxi" or "Ruth".

Yes, birds like water, That's for sure.

I need to get our birdbath back up. Keep forgetting. lol

I need to get out there and scrub out two birdbaths!

Equil... I've been hosed more times than I can count on those rubber stop types of hummingbird feeders... they all seem to drip. That's why I prefer the plastic ones with a hook, built-in ant moat... red on bottom, clear on top... two pieces, very easy to clean and light enough to hang on the suction thing.

Speaking of them liking water... I watered my lawn the other day (on my day in the hours between midnight and 10 a.m., stinkin' drought!) and watched a hummingbird follow the water coming from the wand. He'd fly out into the yard when the water was going out that far and then follow the stream back to where it started and sit in a bush while it was watering above then repeat the process all over again. I watched him for a good while. He was making the sweetest clicky noise .. he was so happy.

Equil, I don't know if it would make much difference, but everything I've read said sugar/water 1:4. I've never used anything but sugar - hummers have been a family addiction as long as I can remember.

Have you tried this web site? http://www.hummingbirdsociety.org/hottopics/attracting.asp

We are fortunate here to have hummers year round and I always have a feeders where I can see them - generally both sides of the house so the squabbles are less. They come to the windows if they run out!

Plants? Salvias or anything that looks like a tube! Do you grow natives? The web site has lots of recommendations. And yes, they LOVE water, especially if it's moving gently or spraying. Ours sit on the lip of the fountain with the water running over their tiny feet. We put small flat rocks in the water, too, for the little guys to stand on and bathe.

Hope you find the magic key that will bring them flocking to you!

Oh! I misread her other post ... I, too do 1 to 4. Thanks kaperc.

My two bird baths are all nice and scrubbed out and re-filled with water as of a few minutes ago. For some reason a lot of leaves have been accumulating in them. I do stick mosquito dunks in them.

Nope, I'm doing 1 C sugar to 3 C water. That's what the speaker at the Audubon Society recommended a few years ago. I have no idea if that's a regional thing or if that was what the ratio was we were supposed to use when they were migrating or what. It's been too long. I can switch to 1:4.

That nice little amber hummingbird feeder fell off the window. I knew that thing was too heavy for that window. I'll go to the wild bird store and see if I can buy myself another light weight suction cup hummer feeder like what heyitsmejudy described. Maybe I can get there sometime this weekend. I'd really like one up close to where I do the dishes.

I've got lots of water around here which is why I have so many dragonflies and damselflies and herps of all kinds to the extent I have to water my window wells when watering plants just in case something gets down there that I miss rescuing. I have natural ponds which are left alone as well as several pre-forms that are for specific purposes. One preform is for tads in the spring that are transferred from vernal ponds that will dry up, one is for odonata, and one is sort of sacrificial to keep the interest of the raccoons in the area. I toss rusty crayfish and earthworms in that one for the raccoons and it does help a lot in that I was able to take down the fido shock fence from around the pre-form that has my tads in it. I have another pre-form that needs to be set back up but it is still not functional right now because I've been working in that area and didn't want to go in the drink while planting. I hate taking a step backwards and forgetting there's water behind me.

For the most part, I almost exclusively use plants that are indigenous to my area but I've been planting for moths and do have quite a few exotics in tight around the house.

Here's the area where I put up the new shepherd's hook and hummingbird feeder last night-

Well, if I was a hummer, I'd go for that! It's a beautiful setting. Sounds like you have what's needed.

Re the window feeder. What we did was put a large eye-bolt under the eaves, then put one of those long S hooks on it.
Here's what I mean: http://www.leevalley.com/garden/page.aspx?c=2&p=10474&cat=2,51603
These hooks are really handy.

I can hang a regular feeder at just the right height and I don't worry about it falling. I did have a suction cup one that worked - got it at Wild Birds Unlimited - but it was the hanger that had the suction cup on it and stood out from the window so the bottle could be hung. Very simple and worked just fine. I still have the bottle, but the hanger was broken when we moved.

Beautiful spot just waiting for the hummers, Equil. You're doing everything right. Honestly, I don't have but a few but that seems to be the song everyone around here is singing.

The kind Kaperc described (the hook that stands out from the window that has a suction cup on it) is what I have, as well. It's sturdy because of the metal hook and there's a piece of wood on mine the hook comes from then the suction cup on the back of that. I got it at WalMart for about $3 and it works great. I doubt it'd hold a heavy glass feeder, but the plastic one seems to attract them anyway.

I can't find the kind that you two are describing that has the hook that stands out from the window that has a suction cup on it. I was just at WalMart yesterday and I didn't see anything like that.

Here's one that is cheap plastic that looks ok that I think Home Depot had-
http://arcatapet.com/fullsize/6691.jpg

Also too, last year I bought two different HummZinger feeders plus a Window Hummer that was a different brand. These particular feeders are supposed to be the end all to hummingbird feeders. Where they are is beyond me because I ordered them in fall and did something really bright... I set them aside somewhere that I would be sure to find them for spring. Somewhere in this house are two HummZinger feeders plus a suction cup Window Hummer that are already bought and paid for. Yup, I'm a rocket scientist. This is how it works, I will go drive around this weekend and find a nice light weight suction cup feeder and about 5 mintues after I get home, my husband will find the box with the three feeders in it that I ordered last year and ask me if this is what I have been looking for. He will have stashed them in the shed out of the way or in another one of his stash locations that only he knows.

You crack me up!
My boyfriend found a big paper bag in my garage when we were cleaning it out months ago and asked what was in it... I told him he didn't want to know. He thinks I'm off my rocker buying mealworms for bluebirds, etc. He also once poured a glass of what he thought was KoolAid in a gallon jug in the fridge ... I stopped him just in the nick of time from drinking hummingbird powder/water mix.
Anyway, inside the bag were AT LEAST 10 hummingbird feeders, ranging in size from the tiny one that hangs in a planter to the big daddy HummZinger!!! I'd put them in there after bleaching them out, etc., when hummer season ended last year.

So before you go running around this weekend, ask your hubby where he stashed the box with your HummZingers! You can also screw into your siding one of those plant brackets above your window and hang the long S hook onto it. That way, you don't have to worry about a suction cup failing. I can't do it here because we have those outside basement cellar doors and they're just under the kitchen window. The window is tall enough I would need a ladder.

Here, something like this below

This is what I have.

Ohhhhhhh, I like terryr's black hook! Where did you find that?

Ahhhhhhh, I think I already have one of those types of hooks somewhere. I had used them to try to hang suet last fall and I did buy it from WalMart!

OK heyitsmejudy, I've got a good one for you so you don't feel so bad about your boyfriend almost drinking HB water. I was growing Darlingtonia californica here which is a carnivorous plant that likes to have cool roots. Carnivorous plants don't like impurities in their water so you have a couple choices... distilled water, RO water, or rain water. Well, rain water is free so I used to make up trays of rain water ice cubes specially for those plants. Before I went to work every morning I would drop a few of my special ice cubes in the drip tray to the plants as well as on top of the medium to melt down to keep their roots cool. My husband normally takes cold pop out of the frig but he had been out and had just bought some so it was warm. He grabs my special ice cube trays and I don't remember exactly when it was that he realized there was a fly in the middle of his ice cube floating around in the middle of his drink but he was not happy. He pulled out the tray of rain water ice cubes to inspect and found all kinds of interesting things frozen in them. That was the end of growing D. californica. Not that he asked that I stop growing them but I felt really bad and aside from that, there were other issues with those plants and I figured I better move them out of here before there was an accident.

Oh ya, tell your boyfriend it could be worse than meal worms for BBs... how about having a wife/girlfreind who would be willing to toss grasshoppers and pinheads up into the air for PMs? Wheeeeeeee!

Mealworms, yuck! There's a place nearby us that has a sign out for worms and when I was looking for composting worms, I went by to see what they had. There seemed to be nobody home, so I walked back to the big barn and there was this fellow eating his lunch. The whole place was full of mealworms in crates! Including right around his bench and stool where he was eating. I could hear them all around me. Creeped me out!

Yep, Judy, that's the kind I had, but it was plastic instead of wood.

I love those wrought iron hooks, too, Terry. I have them in my kitchen.

BTW, Equil, I forgot to say that tabletop feeder is really cute! Never seen anything like that.

They seem to be an acquired taste! I go through about 1,000 a week feeding wrens, titmice, bluebirds, nuthatches and, yesterday, even spotted a cardinal chowing down on 'em. At least the stinkin' squirrels don't eat 'em.
Aforementioned boyfriend once found a burlap sack of mealworms in the bottom drawer of my fridge... they go dormant when they're in the fridge and stay alive longer that way if you don't feed all of them to the birds in a short amount of time. Now that I think about it, I'm suprised the poor guy's stuck around this long!!!

Yum yum, meal worms = protein! Didya get a glimpse into his sandwich? Wouldn't have been a meal worm/mayonnaise sandwich now would it? He he he!

Equil, you are the self proclaimed cheap skate....it's here at this website

http://www.antiquehardware.com/product/02000858/

You can usually find them around at some of the different hardware stores though.

Yaa, I know. I am sort of frugal. I would have bought that though if it wasn't in hunter green.

Ummm???? It comes in Hunter Green or Black??? Look and read Equil, look and read...lol.....