If anybody is interested, here is a really interesting link to track the Ruby throated hummingbird migration. I sometimes wonder which "dot" could be my hummingbird on its way north to the garden LOL! :P

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

Thanks LL for the link. It will be interesting to watch.

I thought I saw a hummer the other day when I was in the fast food drive through but maybe that was a bee. It's hard for me to tell them apart sometimes in the beginning of the "season" until I get my eyes "trained" for their size difference from the bees. :)

Thanks for a great piece of information. I never knew when to start filling my feeders. Now I know that the little birds get here sometime around the second week of April. Before, I would put out nectar when I saw my first one, which was when my poppies were blooming. This is long after they are in the area and in need of refueling. I'll start making nectar available first week of April.

I love having these little guys around when I'm working on the pond in my backyard. Last year, I had four "regulars" that seemed to always be around when I was outside. I'd put out fresh nectar ( I have two feeders) and they would feed, hover right in front of my face, look at me as if to say, "thanks for the fresh juice", and then fly back to drink more.

With the map, I can start looking for them earlier. Thanks, again.

Don

GREAT LINK I can not wait until I get my babies back feeders all over the place LOVE THEM!

C2

Last summer I had about 5 or 6 feeders on my deck and I would have to duck when I went outside so they wouldn't fly into my head or face. There were so many of them. Thanks for the link, C2.
Ellen

Sorry littlenessie, I misread the posts....thanks for the link for the Hummingbirds. You must think I've lost it, C2! :blink:

Now this has got me thinking! According to this map we don't get any hummingbirds here :-( I am SURE my friend gets them up in town. I never thought about them since we moved here, they were just always at our place and we always fed them and enjoyed them. My parents even had a hummingbird garden and my Dad had all these tiny little perches in the garden and they used to sit on them and it was soooo cool to see them sitting still! I am going to call my friend! I bet if we have them then they have hitched a ride on the back of a goose!!! Thanks for posting this link LN!

Yeah I didn't see my state there either. I know that we get some hummers but maybe not this type? :(

Do they really hitch a ride on a goose or are you kidding? I heard my mother-in-law say that too!

Tia

myth :P

California is not on that migration map either.
Looking at the website on littlenessie's post, it looks as though we mostly get Anna's species.
We get some other species as well ... some with thicker bills, others with different colors.

We try to plant only hummingbird friendly (or approved) plants in the yard/garden.
We only keep one feeder, it hangs outside of the kitchen window.

There is a handful that will overwinter here, so we get them year-round.
The big numbers of them will be here in another month.

PG

If you go to the hummingbird map site, you will see that it is only showing Ruby-throated hummingbirds. On that same site, look at the map from 1996, where they are showing other species as well and you'll find your California hummers.

Don

Thanks for posting the hummingbird site. I've been wondering when they'd be here. Last year one just showed up at the sliding glass door and just hovered there looking in as if to say "I'm back, where's my food". When we bought this house the owners left us the 2 feeder and a bottle of nectar and a recipe. They were quite concerned about leaving them. We counted a dozen of them, and its quite dangerous going outside. We have one feeder at the back of the house and one at the front, to try and cut down on the fights. The feeder at the back has a perch that we modified for the oriole. We had them nest right beside the house last year. I'm hoping they come back again this year.
Megan