I was sitting on my front porch watching my humming bird feeders.. One has a perch ring around the base of it.. the other just has the flowers no perches..
While watching I noticed the female preferred the one with out the perch.. but she was trying desperately to perch on the flowers.. She would claw at the flower and slide off..
I felt sorry for it and set out to make perches for the feeder..

I figured cloths hanger wire would be the best thing to use.. I got a couple and started making the perches.. cutting and bending..
Ok so they won't win any award for being pretty.. but the important thing is will the bird use it????
I set them up on the feeder and wanted to take pics to share with my mom...

Here is the first picture I took..




See.. Nothing to be impressed by.. Almost ugly.... Ugly enough to scare off the humming bird????





Second pic.....


NOPE!!!!! Didn't scare her off.. She was very pleased with perching on the make shift perch..

My oldest daughter has named her Mae.. And the male is Fred..
Here is Fred at the other feeder...




Mae didn't like the fatter perch.. she would perch for a quick second and then be off to the other one.. she was clawing the flower trying to grip on it while flying.. after I put the perch in she sat there for a good minute changed perches to the other side and sat there for another minute.. I got several pics.. she didn't even mind that I had the flash going..

I'm so pleased with my not so pretty bird perches!!!!
I'm tickled that I can share this with you all!!
They let me get with in less than a foot from them while they are feeding..

Gina *BabyBlue*

Gina
The perches look good, but some hummers are just shy about using them. I guess each bird has its own personality.
The males also use the perches as a guard post to attack other hummers using the feeder, but if the perches are removed then the males just use any nearby ambush point.
What ratio of sugar/ water are you using?
Karl

Those are wonderful pic's Gina, and might I add you are very creative!!! I imagine that hummingbirds spend so much of their lives in flight that it's nice to have a chance to perch once and awhile and have a cool beverage! Thanks for sharing, they are such beautiful birds!

Karl,
I use a 3c water to 1c sugar as my first batch of the year.. after that it is 1c sugar to 4c water..
The male sits in the maple tree near by to ambush unsuspecting invading hummers.. I have seen him trade off sentry duty with the Mrs...
I bet they have a nest near by as rarely do I see them both at the same time.. and it is less than a half minute after one leaves that the other shows up..
I can't believe how close they let me get.. My hand has been just inches from the feeder and they will come and sit at the feeder and don't seem to care that I'm there..
In fact.. while I was cleaning the ants off the red feeder ( I took it down so I could clean it better) I was holding it in one hand and clearing ants with the other, and the female came and ate.. I didn't dare take a breath.. But she didn't seem to notice me at all!!! It made my day!!!!

Joan,
thanks for the compliments!! I agree.. and as warm as it gets.. I'd rather sit and sip a cool drink than stand with it..


If I can get any good pics of Fred (other than his back side) I'll post them.. Maybe they will bring the kids around for a visit??? Family Photo would be great!!!


Gina *BabyBlue*

I couldn't believe that this showed up this good.. I did crop it.. but I was thinking there would be fuzz where wings should be.. I am sold on my little Fuji Fine Pix!!

This is Fred!!!



I was about 4 ft from Fred when I snapped the pic.. Now if I can just teach him to say cheese!!! LOL

Gina *BabyBlue*

Nice pics Gina! I wish we got a few other types of hummers-- all we get is the ruby throat with an occasional Rufus.

Have you ever tried using a little Vaseline on the hanger wire to keep the ants off? It worked for me, but we may have different kinds of ants.

Gina,

Thanks for the pics. There are many hummingbirds in my yard that is feeding off on the "fire" tree of my neighbor. Wanted to have a hummingbird feeder modified like yours. What kind of solution you put in the feeder that they like the best? If I can whip it up from a basic recipe, please post it here.

Already my head says to make invert sugars from ordinary table sugars (mix calamondin juice or lemon and table sugar and heat up for an hour to near boiling but without boiling over, 190 deg F), as replacement for sugars. This should simulate the nectar much better than ordinary sugary solutions. Perhaps they may like maple? any other ideas?


Joe

Those are some incredible pictures, there should be a photography contest somewhere where they would win a prize!!! Thanks for sharing, simply beautiful!

I've read several places not to use fruit juices.. can't find an answer to why..
here are some links you might find interesting..


http://www.petco.com/Content/Article.aspx?PC=article&Nav=153&id=3531

http://www.hummingbirds.net/feeders.html#recipe

http://www.hummingbirdsplus.org/Attracting&FeedingHummingbirds.html

http://www.hummingbirdsociety.org/hottopics/attracting.asp



Good luck!!!

Joan I will probably inter them in local photo contest this fall..
I didn't get pic entered last yr.. but yr before I got a 3rd place prize for the pic that is in my profile under my name.. It and others I entered were displayed in a photo show in Wichita..


Gina *BabyBlue*

Joe
Gina is right and everything that I have read says to use a sugar water mixture. We use 20/80 mixture during the summer and 25/75 all during the winter months. Here we have hummers all year.
The store purchased formulas are a waste of money and they add food dyes that do not benefit the birds.
Hummers are highly attracted to the color Red, so if you make your own feeder make sure some part of it is red.
Karl

Those are fine pics Gina! I had never seen a hummer up close until last year in my yard. He landed on a branch to rest and I got a good look. I didn't know they were in my part of the state. I may try a feeder this year.