Attracting hummingbirds

[rich]

Hi, my name is rich, and I live in Polk City. I have been trying to attract hummingbirds for over 1 year with no luck. I have a feeder, numerous plants (fire bush, butterfly bushes, shrimp plants,

yellow alamander, bottle brush plant).  Still no luck. I need help.

[Beau]

May 4, 2015 21:10:08 GMT -5 rich said:

Hi, my name is rich, and I live in Polk City. I have been trying to attract hummingbirds for over 1 year with no luck. I have a feeder, numerous plants (fire bush, butterfly bushes, shrimp plants,

yellow alamander, bottle brush plant).  Still no luck. I need help.

[Beau]

I live I north lakeland and have no luck with feeders. But have over 200 plants. I would add some native salvia. It grows very well in full sun. Cigar plant.firespike. tall red pentas.

[Beau]

At first you will have 2 spend time looking for them they are very fast.I started with a few plants and now have over 200. With 8-12 hummers at all times

[Joe M]

Rich,
Having 8-12 hummers in central FL in Aug. is nothing to apologize about. Your obviously doing something right!
Feeders don't always attract hummers if they have a plentiful food source available (natural flowers), especially in Fl., in the summer months!
I can't recall hummers using feeders during the summer in my yard but during the winter month when migrants from the north pass through or over-winter, they do! Using feeders is a learned experience for them and hummers that have fledged in northern states have probably been exposed to them and familiar with them as opposed to those fledged in FL.

That's one of the reasons I don't keep more than one or two feeders up in the summer (partially filled) since all I do is toss it out since it spoils in about 3 days in FL. You stand a better chance of hummers using feeders from mid-Sep. through the end of Mar. in central FL. As your summer flowers wane a feeder or two will be beneficial and attract some attention from the hummers!

[gatorjoe]

I have 5 feeders out here in Lecanto and they are used quite a bit! I have no idea how many hummingbird plants I have but I suspect I am also at 200 or better hummingbird plants. The hummingbirds in my yard were slow to use the feeders but now they are emptying the feeders every 2 to 3 days. They still hit a lot of flowers but they also know what is in the feeders!!

[Beau]

hi Joe, i have left my feeders out for so long changing out the sweet stuff and no luck, they do look at them but pass for the real deal. right now i know of 9 different birds.

[Joe M]

Beau,
I don't know exactly what you mean by "leaving my feeders out for so long" means. If you have not replaced the solution every 3-5 days, the solution has probably spoiled, and healthy hummers will avoid and not use it!
When the solution becomes cloudy (not clear) its turned bad and has probably become moldy, so please don't leave a feeder up without checking the quality of the solution. Sugar solution in FL has a short "shelf" life 3-5 days.
I have long advocated that folks in FL use small capacity feeders (8 oz. or less) or only put 4-6 oz. in larger feeders to avoid tossing out solution that is never used by hummers.

I am in MA at the present time and even though I'm using about a qt. of solution a day my numbers are declining on a daily basis, the fall migration is in progress and in a month or so you may see more hummers in FL as they head your way.

[Beau]

Hi joe. Sorry bout the confusion. I would never leave more than 3 days. Personally think it's waste of time because I have so many plants that bloom all seasons. We had 2 sets of baby's this year. Pretty cool