We literally have THOUSANDS of hummingbirds on the ranch in the summer (May – August).

This is where they come to raise their young.

We put a few nectar feeders out about the first of April because the males show up anywhere from late March to May to acquire the best territory and feeding spots and the females arrive in late May. Spring and early summer is still very cold here at night and we often wonder how they survive the cold nights. The night temps are in the mid 20’s to low 30’s in April, mid 30’s in May and mid 40’s by June. If we don’t put feeders out with heavy syrup 1:1 sugar:water, we’ll find dead hummers on the ground under trees in the morning after a cold night. It’s nature at work as the chipmunks and squirrels find them a tasty opportunistic meal.

About the end of June the first hatch of new little hummers are slowly fluttering around, practicing their flying skills and dealing with all of the adults in the air and the chipmunks and squirrels trying to catch them from the trees.

About the end of July the second hatch arrives and the crowds just get bigger at the feeding stations.

By now we’re feeding 2 gallons of nectar per day. THAT’S RIGHT! We make 2 gallons of sugar water every night. We usually go outside just after dark or very early in the morning to fill the feeders.

The birds get to know us and will come and drink out of the feeders we’re holding, or out of the feeders on the ground waiting to be hung up. Territorial males buzz us and even strike our hats making their point that the feeders are their property and we’re encroaching.

Toward the end of August south migrating hummingbirds arrive from Alaska to Utah and add their numbers to those who are already here. The humming is so loud, it sounds like a giant beehive and continues dawn to dusk.

We used to put the feeders outside our bedroom window for 10 years but eventually had to move them due to the extremely loud humming and chirping and fighting when all of the birds are at the feeders.
HUMMINGBIRD MEMORY
After we moved the feeders to a new location in 2017 (watch our live feed on YouTube), we noticed that even as long as 5 years later (2022), the early arriving males come to our bedroom window and hover and look for feeders in the EXACT arial position the feeders used to hang and then throughout the summer males and females will come to the same location and hover near our bedroom window in the exact spot that feeders hung 5 years previous.
I’ll update this in 2023 if the same thing occurs.

For about 4-5 weeks during this time of year we have to raise the gallons of nectar that we feed to between 4-5 gallons per day.

YUP, we now feed 4-5 gallons of nectar a day and many times many of the feeders are DRY when we get there to refill. It’s almost a full time job keeping these beautiful birds in nectar.

NOTE: We will use about 400-600 pounds of sugar per summer so we’re always watching for sales on bulk sugar and usually find good deals at the end of the growing season when the canning season is cranking up. We’ll buy all of the sugar for the next year and put it in storage for the winter.

Then, between the last days of August and Labor-Day, one morning it’s almost quiet. The bulk are always gone a couple of weeks before Labor-Day.

WHEN DO THEY LEAVE
Over the years we’ve kept track of the daylight hours and the night time temps when they have left.
It appears that when the daylight hours are less than 13hours 33minutes and the nighttime temps dip to less than 52°F the birds will leave our area within a day of two. If two consecutive nights of less than 50°F occur, they’re usually gone the next morning.

After that just a few young juvenile birds who are not strong enough to migrate yet and their watchful mommies are left. We have had stragglers stay into the first week of October and we worry that they won’t have enough time to get far enough south before hard freezing traps and kills them.

YUP, at the crack of dawn the main group leaves and they don’t even come to the feeders for a departing drink. They just leave south.
Oh we have had a couple of times when there’s a flurry of activity at the feeders about 6:15AM and then in unison, they all fly into a small cloud and head due south.

Little clouds of fast flying hummingbirds going south through the trees. They’ll get a drink where they find it on their way south.

In ONE DAY, it’s suddenly QUIET. Very little humming, no dive bomb buzzing. Just quiet.