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One thing I never expected when we moved to the desert was how many birds we’d have in our yard. My favorite are the Costa’s Hummingbirds, which live here year-round. The males have iridescent green feathers on their backs and dark purple feathers on their necks which look hot pink when the light hits them straight on. The females are more grey, with a unique white line above their eyes.
I find the males to be endlessly entertaining when I’m out on the patio. I put up one feeder when we moved in, which was immediately taken by a little guy we named Buzz. He would sit in the nearby tree, guarding the feeder and chasing any other hummingbirds away. I had no idea how territorial hummingbirds were!
Realizing there were more that wanted food, I quickly put up a few more feeders. We’ve now got eight in various places around the yard. And each one has a male that guards each one. Sometimes I’ll see a female hummingbird sneak in and feed when the males are distracted or chasing off another bird. And this summer, there was a female who claimed one of the feeders on our patio. that was a nice change, seeing her shoo off any males that though they’d come take a drink from her feeder!
At some point, I purchased a ring feeder, which allows hummingbirds to feed right off your hand. It took a little while for them to get comfortable with the concept, but once they did, it was amazing. I can go out any time with one of the ring feeders and they will immediately come over. When they are hovering over your hand, you can feel the downdraft of their wings. It’s just incredible!
During the peak of summer at dusk, there will be at least 20 or 30 hummingbirds chasing each other around the yard. It’s really fun to watch them zoom around, chirping and buzzing. And they are so resilient, even sitting on our outdoor string lights during storms and high winds. Look at how fluffy they look during the rain!
But what amazes me is how friendly they’ve become. One of the hummingbirds regularly sits on a string wire that we put up on our patio to hang our towels and wet bathing suits. He knows that I’m the one who refills the feeders, so he’ll come chirp at me when they are low on sugar water. And he gets really close, like just a few inches from my face. Initially, it scared me to death when he would do that. But now I find it endearing, and I feel honored that he trusts me enough to get that close and communicate with me.
The other day, one of them realized they could sit on one of the chairs at our outside table, taking some shade from the sun. Quickly, another one followed his lead, and soon there were two or three sitting there off and on throughout the day. This was highly unusual because the males tend to chase each other off from any good spots they find. At one point, two male hummingbirds were sitting together and I swear they were having a little conversation. Either that, or trying to subtly encourage the other one to leave. I had to take video of their interaction because it was just so cute.
If you think there might be hummingbirds in your area, I highly recommend putting up a feeder. You can determine what species might be in your region and when (because some hummingbirds migrate) by using the Merlin app. It’s a free app created by Cornell University which lets you explore birds in your area. You can identify birds in your yard with their photo or sound recording tool, and then keep track of all the birds you’ve seen. It’s amazing how once you start paying attention, you’ll realize just how many birds are around!
I’ve tried a few different types of feeders, but I like the ones shown below the best. They have a curved bottom, so they don’t leak as much as the flat-bottom variety. They have four feeding spots, which is more than enough for the possessive males in my yard – I rarely see more than two on a feeder at once. These feeders are easy to clean and they’ve held up to our hot summer weather for a few years now, which is more than I can say for a lot of other things in our yard. I also LOVE that they come in a 2-pack.
If you do buy hummingbird feeders of any kind, don’t use that horrible fake red liquid to fill them. It’s best to make your own sugar water. Just be sure to refill theme regularly. And when it’s really hot outside, clean and refill them every few days even if they aren’t empty – in high heat, the sugar water will ferment into alcohol, and no one wants a bunch of drunk hummingbirds crashing into trees or windows!
How to Make Sugar Water for Hummingbird Feeders
- Only use pure white Cane Sugar – not organic! Organic sugar has traces of molasses which can eventually build up and cause a fungus on their beaks. And then they can’t feed, and they die. By pure white Cane Sugar, I mean the cheap stuff that comes in a paper bag and has no brownish tint at all.
- Use a 4:1 water to sugar ratio. When I just had a few feeders, I did 2 cups of water to 1/2 cup of sugar. You can keep any leftovers in the fridge.
- Put the sugar and water in a glass or plastic bottle and shake until the sugar dissolves. (If you use lukewarm water, the sugar will dissolve faster.)
- Make sure to clean and refill the feeders when they’re empty, or every few days when it’s hot (even if they aren’t empty).