A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion Hobbies, Crafts and Creativity The Bird Lovers Forum The return of Bubba Hum and Fra Hummer

The Ruby siblings have returned. As of yesterday, Bubba and his sister, Fra have returned to my yard. This makes the second or third year they have returned which is NOT unusual. Hummers, if they DON'T die, ALWAYS return to the yard they spent the previous Summer in. This is OFTEN they yard they were BORN in. And now, without further ado, I present BUBBA HUM and his sister, FRA HUMMER!

BUBBA HUM





FRA HUMMER

Great shots. I especially love the first one where the birds head seems to have stayed perfectly still for the photo, yet the wings are so fast they are barely in the picture at all.

Hummer's wings beat at the rate of 60 to 80 beats a SECOND! It produces a low, bass-like HUM that you can actually hear if you are close enough. That wing hum is what gives the bird the name, Hummingbird. Hummingbirds actually produce a squeaky mouse-like chirping and twittering with their vocal chords.

Humming birds are cool. When I move (next month) plans for my gardens will include things that attract them.

beautiful pictures as usual.

You'll want to get Hummingbird feeders. MAKE your nectar. Do NOT buy it! They put red dye or other things in commercial nectar. Use ONE PART table sugar to FOUR PARTS warm tap water. Stir or shake the sugar/water mixture to dissolve it, then fill your feeders. You can refrigerate any extra nectar for use at the next filling. Replace your nectar every 3 - 5 days.

Soon, you will hear the flitter/flutter of little Hummer wings around your yard and garden.

Which you hear all around your head as they try to peck your eyes out if you get too close to that nest you didn't know was there.
I have watched several hummers nest and lay eggs, Thorny. Most of the time 2-3 eggs but only 2 reach maturity. Then when the chicks hatch one ends up out of the nest. So only one actually reaches flying age. Is this the norm, Thorny? Because this is all I have ever seen.

Possibly, Tina. I have only seen ONE Hummer nest and then never followed the Mother/offspring developments that closely. You probably know more about this than I do, Tina.

Possibly, Tina. I have only seen ONE Hummer nest and then never followed the Mother/offspring developments that closely. You probably know more about this than I do, Tina.

It just seems that the nests are not big enough for more than one chick to grow to maturity. None I have seen.
When a hummer is sitting on a nest you can walk up close enough to pet her/him. They will not move away from those eggs. The mate will be all around your face trying to kill you if they are nearby and they are not usually far. They build nests in unusual places and not always very high. Low on bushes so you can look down into them.
One pair built a nest on a bolt sticking out about 2 inches from a chain link gate I had. The nest was stuck to the side of the bolt somehow about 4 foot above the ground.
Another built a nest on a palm frond that was pretty high up. But you could reach out and touch it from the second floor balcony. That baby tried to learn to fly in a heavy wind and got stunned and disoriented. So my daughter picked it up and brought it in to me. We held it and then she put it back where it had landed. Mom and dad came by, fed it and finished the flying lessons and they all flew off. The only one I have ever held that was alive.
I like hummers but do not put out feeders. I just plant flowers for them year round. Fewer battles that way. And fewer ants and bees and things attracted to the nectar.

Here is a female that I was able to capture today. I have two females that come multiple times a day to the feeder and to my flowers. I have only seen the male one time this year...I'm afraid something happened to him....this is the first year he has not been around.

If you click the picture there should be three more photos. I sure do love seeing everyone elses hummers!

I don't think the slideshow is working correctly so I went ahead and just posted the pictures.

Very nice--I just love looking at photos.

iggygal, you and I have the same feeder! Bubba Hum showed up first, and then Fra Hummer showed up a few days later. So don't give up on your male yet.

OK, Thorny....is it possible that these Hummers I've been seeing are juviniles? Because they are very small and just yesterday there is just a very small patch of red starting to appear on one of the two of their throats. They are just playing every morning and they are so much fun to watch! I will try to post a picture of the "red dot" I captured later.

OK, I just answered my own question....lol
http://www.rubythroat.org/RTHUExternalMain.html

Yep that red dot means first year, juvenile, MALE Hummer!. The first year, Bubba was in my yard he had ONE dot of red on his white throat and BOY was he proud! He would raise his chin and hover still throwing his head back, showing me his "Spark"

Here Bubba is the first year Showing Off

Bubba "Sparky" Hum

Here is Bubba Hum last year as a full adult male. The changes are STARTLING!!!

Bubba "Studs" Hum


Move over ladies...He's commin' to...GETCHA!!!

Here is my little juvenile boy from today......

Just beautiful Igga an thron,

I missed the trend.

Yes show us more. Another pro on here.
Good luck girl.

dodge

Wonderful pictures everyone!

Well I haven't been able to get a good shot yet, but either my juve male blossomed very quickly or I have an adult male now because he is very dark headed and a completely ruby throat....hopefully he will cooperate soon.

keep trying it it worth the fun.

Oh I know! I love it...it's sad they won't be around much longer...I never get tired of them.

Then you can find another one to chase..