Any other hummingbird fans out there?

It seems that the previous property manager here had a couple of feeders hung outside the bedroom window and, after having several "inquiries" I gave in and put up a feeder in early spring.  Evidently I make a mean nectar because it looks like happy hour every hour from dawn to dusk out there.  What was originally a clean and refill every three days (I use a 500ml bottle feeder with perches) has gone crazy over the last few days.  Two days ago the little guys and gals finished off an entire bottle (a bit over 16 oz.)!  So I put a second feeder up yesterday and today they went through all of one and 60% of the new one - sheesh! 
 
I get four types here:  Anna's (a year-round inhabitant), Rufous, Calliope and Black-Chinned.  A little bit of geek math based on average weight and the fact that the little hummers can eat between 1/2 and eight times their own body weight, means that I have between 26 and 419(!) of the little guys and gals.  One estimation method is to assume 1,000 birds per gallon of nectar consumed in a day, another takes the maximum number seen on the feeders at one time and multiples that by six.  These methods would mean I still have between 42 and 200 little hummers around here!
 
Any way you cut it, I've got quite a circus going on outside my windows right now.  I refilled during the day last week and had five hovering 1-2 feet away from my head while I was putting the feeder back up (that's a weird feeling!).  Yesterday and today it looked like a swarm of (very large) bees out there - unbelievable.
 
I feel sorry for those of you in the UK since hummingbirds only exist in North and South America.  These little ones are fun to watch!

Steve is rubbing off on you Rain! 

We enjoy humming birds as well.
 
We also buy seed/feed from a local bird watching store.  They offer good advice and we are able to attract and enjoy a fairly wide variety of visitors.
 
We also have kites, hawks, and owls that nest in the trees out back.
 
I couldn't imagine not having an interaction with them... sharing the yard with them seems routine.
 
 
best regards,
mike
 
 

The hummingbirds around my place are very territorial. They seem to spend more time trying to chase each other away from the feeder than they do feeding. But they're still fun to watch.
 
Craig, I just learned a while back about the Anna's hanging around here in the winter. I started putting the feeder out in the daytime and bringing it in at night if it was likely to freeze. They only seem to come to the feeder if it's especially cold or there's snow on the ground. I wonder what they're eating the rest of the time.

Absolutely... there is at least one.

 
 
 
I like turkey fans too...
 
J

That one doesn't look like it drinks too much nectar!  My little ones are trying to finish off TWO entire bottles today...  One's basically empty and the other has about 1/2" above the base showing (so about 1/3 of the bottle left).  *Sheesh!*
 
Ever have those cars where you got the power wheel spinning by yanking out a zip tie like cable really quick?  Then you put them on the ground and ZOOM!  Off they go?  Well, that's what it seems outside the window.  LOL!

We used to have a huge mimosa tree in the back yard. Hummers loved that tree. Usually one male would claim the tree for his own and run off any and all of the others trying to get a meal.... comical to watch those little bundles of fury fight over that huge tree. Defending that tree was a full time job.

Ha.  I had a guy stop by to give a roof pressure washing bid and he noticed some of the hummingbirds out front and commented on how many there were (about 3-5).  He mentioned that he has a feeder that he refills once a week whether it's empty or not, but doesn't see too many.  I told him to check on the other side of the house where my feeders are and his words were something along the lines of "HOLY CRAP!!! I'VE NEVER SEEN SO MANY HUMMINGBIRDS IN ONE PLACE IN MY LIFE!!!"  There were about nine on the feeders and another five buzzing around them with a bunch of others in the closest tree (six sitting on one branch waiting their turn) with a few buzzing and fighting around us.
 
For the last week, BOTH feeders have been sucked dry EVERY DAY.  32 oz. of nectar.  I don't watch TV anymore, I get plenty of entertainment looking out the window.
 
(I really wish I had a decent video camera - the action is amazing!)

 We don't get 'em up here, but one summer I saw a "flock" of their distant cousins attacking a lilac tree:
 

 
The "Hummingbird Moth".  And they DO live in the Eastern Hemisphere.

There's only a couple of rufous left, the rest tanked up last week and started their journey south, but the two that I see do try to take over both feeders - unsuccessfully, lol!
 
There's also a black chin who tries to stack his claim, but they just all mob the bully.  I made a little reference sheet of the ones I see for me - and anyone who stopped by to watch - to use:
 

Desmo808
I wonder if Alfred Hitchcock's movie would have had the same impact if he had used those lil' buggers.
 
Or better yet. Hummingbirdnado.

A movie with a mutant cross between hummingbirds and large wasps would give me nightmares!

Last night after dark I filled all three feeders (two 16 oz. and one 32 oz.).  Tonight I'm refilling all three feeders...  I'm going to be conservative and guess that maybe four ounces was left in two of them (probably less actually), but that means those little hummers went through at least 56 ounces of nectar today!
 
Using the 1,000 birds = 1 gallon counting method, that means there's about 437 of those little guys (and gals) zooming around here.  Even using the more conservative estimate of "most birds you've seen on the feeders" multiplied by six, I still have almost 100 ((7+7+2) * 6 = 96)...
 
*Sheesh!*  And here I was only hoping for a couple of regular visitors!

soens
Hmmm! What's reelly in that nectar? (remember Latka's cookies?)

It's all go juice.  One part sugar to four parts water.  One interesting benefit to feeding this type of bird is that they don't leave a mess (heck, most of what they consume gets converted straight to rocket fuel anyway - lol).

 Ive seen a few around here in the North East but they are few and far between. I might get one or two good sightings in a season. They might be working the early morning shift though.
 
 We put out a feeder and mostly the ants crawl up the hanger and slowly drink the nectar away. The ants here are wicked. They managed to almost totally eat two large sunflower plants leaves and all. You could watch them go up to the leaves, use their mandibles to cut a piece of leaf and go back to the nest.
 
 Craig, maybe there aren't many good flowers out your way and they know you have the goods. You wouldn't by any chance be spiking the nectar?

My Walnut Creek dulcimer has hummingbird sound holes.