Bird Sounds: Ruby-throated Hummingbird

If you want a great app for recording and identifying bird calls and songs, download "Merlin". It's free from Cornell University.

So fun! Thanks for sharing, Brian. Cornell does a wonderful job!

Here in New Hampshire I have more than one hummer regularly visiting my feeder. It is so fun to see them doing their swooping back and forth, up and down, after one another. I have a special "bee proof" feeder since learning they could sting the hummingbirds. Not on my watch!

A bee-proof hummingbird feeder? Tell us more! Where did you find it?

I heard the squeek of a hummingbird, and turned slowly to look...as I did I heard it's wing buzz and it flew up from somewhere behind me, hovering to my right briefly. In PA.

Lucinda- We love a good hummingbird sighting! Many of us plant certain flowers to encourage hummingbird visits throughout the summer.

We live in the middle sorta western part of New Hampshire and have been feeding the hummies for many years. This season began 06MAY23 with the first male arriving. I will put out one feeder, and as more hummingbirds arrive I add another feeder. At the peak of their frenetic lifestyle (which is right now 18JUN23) I have three feeders, spaced far enough apart so no single hummer can dominate them all. There's no such thing as altruism to a hummingbird. Wow, are they mean to each other! But beautiful. A couple years ago the fighting was so fierce one of the hummers shmacked into a window pretty hard. Down he went, and laid there on the deck, just vibrating.. the image of a little bell came to mind, he rung his own bell. Anyway, we keep an emergency hummer kit, which is nothing more than an eyedropper. I didn't bring the bird inside, I brought some fresh hummie-juice and just touched the dropper to the side of his beak or bill, his mouth. And I held it there for a minute or so. Then the bird woke up a little, started looking around, flapped its wings, guzzled a few more drops of hummie-juice, then took off like a shot of lightning. I am in awe of hummingbirds!

I had great luck attracting hummingbirds with Cuphea - also known as Hummingbird's lunch, or Cigar plant.

Last year I had 3 hummingbirds that came around to my feeder Jerk Bird- Only one to perch and drink at his leisure because he chased everything else away Paranoid Bird- Would always hover with his back to the wall and looked around between sips Sneaky Bird- Would only come to the feeder while Jerk Bird was chasing Paranoid Bird away During the chase, the super fast beating of their wings sound like a light saber duel Yes, I tried putting multiple feeders out of sight from one another, but Jerk Bird would always perch on a high branch or power line so he could watch over all 3

I have been so excited to see the hummingbirds return! This is our second year of having feeders (3) for them. We have an unusual problem with the feeders though, they also attract bears! They have come "visiting" during the night, and have torn my hummer feeders and suet feeders all to pieces. I was able to patch together one, but it didn't have a hanger, so I set it on the ground among my crepe myrtle multi-stem tree - and they found it! Another spare feeder was purple, but with a red ribbon bow, they like that one too! When I am working on these projects, I could hear them zizzing back and forth above my head, curiously trying to see what I am doing. What fun they are! Oh, we decided to bring the feeders in at night, and put them out early in the morning! So far so good!