It's time! It's time!!
If you live in the Saratoga Springs NY area, now is a great time to hang a single hummingbird feeder for the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. It's still a little early for our resident hummingbirds, who most likely will return in early May (we use the easy-to-remember Hummingbird Season Mantra of "Mother's Day to Labor Day!")
What you'll see first are migrating hummingbirds, stopping in for refueling before continuing on to the area where they were born and will breed. This initial wave will probably be male hummingbirds.
Take their beauty in: they are in tip-top shape, both physically and aesthically. They molted before they left their winter home in Mexico or South America, so their feathers are pristine and beautiful. And they are in lean & mean breeding condition.
I'll start out with a single hummingbird feeder early on. I like to use a basic feeder to start with, and I hang a bright red weather guard over it to scream "NECTAR!!" to overhead birds. As the females return, I'll add all my other feeders. I like to spread those feeders out to increase the likelihood that I'll see multiple hummingbirds at once.
As throughout the hummingbird season, please keep your feeders clean and filled with fresh nectar. Change it out every 4-6 days at a minimum. And don't use red nectar - feeders have plenty of color to attract hummingbirds and birds can't metabolize the red dye.
Have a GREAT hummingbird season this year!
I can't wait to see them!
Along the Gulf coast a few hummingbirds start showing up in late February, but there are not many sightings until the first part of March, so March is when you should put out hummingbird feed.
Posted by: t. leads | September 08, 2012 at 01:14 AM
Kathiesbirds - I'm ready too but the temps and the wind are nasty!
Posted by: The Zen Birdfeeder | April 24, 2012 at 02:45 PM
I am ready and waiting! They only passed through my yard last year but I will try again.
Posted by: Kathiesbirds | April 23, 2012 at 07:07 PM