Where have all the hummers gone?

The question I am most frequently asked from mid-May through June is, “Where are my hummingbirds?”

The majority of these people had seen birds at their feeders earlier in the season and are now puzzled by the lack of visitors. Of course, I can’t tell anyone specifically why birds are not appearing in the yard, but it does help to know something about the behavior of hummingbirds.

The birds typically come into our area in mid-April. The numbers usually peak during the last two weeks of April as the migrants move through, then drop off as some of the birds continue on to the north to breed. By about mid-May, the males that remain in our area set up breeding territories, which they vigorously defend.

There are never “pairs of hummingbirds” as we normally think of that term. The males are polygamous and will only permit a female on the territory to breed. After mating, he will not allow her to remain. She sets up her own territory for nesting, builds the nest by herself and rears the young. If the nest fails early in the season, she will revisit a male’s territory.

Some years, we have a male who sets up his breeding territory near one of the feeders. When this happens, we have very few (if any) hummingbirds from mid-May through most of June. The territorial male spends all of his time keeping the area clear of other hummingbirds. He does occasionally use the feeder, but most of his time is spent trying to attract females and breed. If we do not have a breeding male on territory near the feeder, then we have more visitors.

By the end of June, the hormone levels begin to drop off in the male, and he is no longer defending a breeding territory. Now, he may begin to defend a feeder, so you will see him more often. As the young fledge (late June to early July), the numbers of birds build at the feeder. A single male can do pretty well defending one feeder, but the more feeders that you have, the less successful he will be.

We begin with two feeders and, by mid-July, usually have four or five. If it is a good year, we may go through August with eight feeders. We have had as many as 20 hummingbirds at the feeders. People who put up more feeders have more birds.

We make our own feeding solution (one part sugar to four parts water). Although we prepare it by the quart, we refrigerate most of it, putting out less than a cup per feeder every four days.

Right now, building up body fat is not at the top of the hummingbird’s agenda. However, this will change in July and the activity at the feeders will pick up as the birds begin to prepare their bodies for the migration.

News and Notes
Gene Sattler, who compiles the results from the Lynchburg Breeding Survey, reported that the number of ruby-throated hummingbirds in our area is a little above average this year. During the past 10 years, 16 to 20 birds are usually reported on this census;  This year, we counted 21.