Hummingbirds are found exclusively in the Americas with ranges spanning from Southern Alaska and Canada to the southern tip of South America. Most species are migratory with North American birds traveling to regions of Mexico and South America in the Fall and returning to their breeding grounds in the Spring.
When it comes to hummingbird feeding, Spring and Fall are important calendar periods of which you should be particularly conscious. A hummingbird expends significant calories during migration periods and sources of nectar become harder to find in the Fall. If you are following the 1 to 4 sugar/water feeding recommendation, consider increasing the sugar to water ratio a bit in the fall to 1 part sugar to 3 parts water. This will provide the additional energy a hummingbird needs to make the long trip ahead.
Your consideration in the Spring is initially attracting hummingbirds to your garden or artificial hummingbird feeding station. As a hummingbird migrates North, it is expending as much energy as it did during its Fall migration. While there are likely more natural food sources available during its Spring migration, your objective is to provide an inviting home and hopefully entice a bird or two to hang around.
Though the migration schedules for hummingbirds varies by species, a good rule of thumb is to get your feeder out early. Mid March is a good, early start time. Delay by a week or two if you live in a more northern climate.
Residents of Southern California could leave their feeders out all year and still attract visitors as the gentler climate caters to year-around hummers. Remember to keep the feeder cleaning schedule up. Also consider cutting back on how much you are feeding visiting hummingbirds as other species will have migrated south and you may be hosting less visitors. The birds will let you know their needs. If you come home to an empty feeder every day, up the amount of sugar water to compensate.
Finally, remember that the sugar water you are feeding hummingbirds is a supplemental food source for energy and not for nutrition. Hummingbirds will also feed on insects and drink unsweetened water so a garden that supplies both will further increase your odds of hosting a hummingbird during the hummingbird busy season!
a friend of mine told me that i should stop filling my humming bird feeder so they will migrate. that if i keep filling the feeder they will not migrate and die. we live in east texas near the louisiana border. please advise. i will continue to fill feeder until i hear that it is not the thing to do
trudy
Trudy - Your friend is sincere in his or her intentions but mistaken. Hummingbirds are driven by instinct to follow their migration routes. Furthermore, remember that the nectar in your feeder is just for energy. A hungry hummer still needs insects to eat. As temps get colder and the bugs die off, the birds are not going to hang around.
The only reason hummingbirds will hang around is if they are year around residents anyway such as in Southern California.
Thanks for stopping by and for the great question.
[…] produce a homemade nectar, use only cane table sugar. As noted in Special Hummingbird Feeding Needs you want to use a mixture of about 1 part cane sugar for every 4 parts water but can intensify the […]
Hi, we have a hummingbird feeder, but there’s a humming bird that seems to live in our yard and she has become very aggressive with other humming bird, should we get a second feeder?
thank you
Hi, Adis. This is one of the most frequent questions I get and the answer really depends on your garden layout. These little birds are territorial and will fight to keep a good hummingbird feeder all to themselves. If you want to promote peace and harmony and attract more hummingbirds, you can do so but it requires a bit of a trick.
Simply adding another feeder near the first one will just give you protective hummingbird one more feeder to defend. What you want to do is add another feeder out of sight of the first one. Around the corner of your house or keep one in front and one in back of your home, for example. At the very least you want to eliminate line of sight from one feeder to another or get as much distance between them as possible.
Good luck and thanks for stopping by.
Dave
I live in Reno Nevada and I am wanting to know when it the best time to start putting out my feeder..
Marcy - Now would be fine. Hummingbird migrations through the western US for several breeds take place in March and April and as early as January/February for some breeds.
I live in Morristown Tennessee and would like to know when to put out my feeders. I never know when to start.
We live in Eastern TN. I put my feeder out today; May 6th, will I start seeing hummingbirds soon?
I live in SW Louisiana. Is it useless to put out the feeder during the summer? Should it just be put in the spring and in the fall?
Hi,
Here’s my dilemma: I have a family of five feeding outside my kitchen window in the back of the house. I have another feeder in front of house.
They are draining the back one-it holds 4 cups every day and 1/2! I live in the high desert mountain an hour north of los angeles. I have NO flowers in my yard. It will get cold this winter. Last winter I found a male bird almost frozen to the porch in front. I looked up and the feeder was empty. The front one stays full for so long I must have missed filling it for half a day. So now I am super worried cause in October we are going away for 2 weeks. How can I lessen their dependency to get them to widen out or migrate? There arent too many flowers up here come cold weather. I am worried.
The one
I too live in Reno Nevada, it is getting quite cold and I was told to take the feeders down Labor Day weekend to force the little ones to migrate. So from what I have read I don’t need to? I was told they will sleep and freeze if they stay here. Please advise.
Thanks
I live in Southern Ca., around Pasadena.What is the best time for feeders to go out. I heard March or April (Spring); but when do you take them down ?
Where are my birds? I’m in S.Cali and my Hummers have gone. Haven’t seen any!