Maggie's Farm

We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.

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Friday, June 27. 2025

Are hummingbird feeders good for hummingbirds?

Not too much, and keeping a hummingbird feeder clean is a hassle. Fun for watching though, 


I asked Perplexity, which is a good AI place. 



Posted by Bird Dog in Natural History and Conservation at 14:35 | Comments (5) | Trackbacks (0)

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In Arizona the feeders become dominated by European honey bees and yellow jackets. This makes them a hazard for people, and few birds dare feed while they're there Also, messy Orioles will visit them. They bully the hummers, gulp the nectar haphazardly and spill quantitied of the syrup. This leaves a gooey mess on decks and adjacent windows.

Also, the feeders force the hummers to aggregate unnaturally in one spot. I've seen roadrunners pick the little birds off in a single leap, and in one case, a peregrine falcon swooped in to take an unsuspecting hummer, right before my eyes.

As you can tell, I'm not a fan. Better to plant the hummers' food plants like Salvias and Fuschias if you want to watch them feed.
#1 Steveaz on 2025-06-27 20:09 (Reply)
https://www.instructables.com/Inexpensive-hummingbird-feeder/
#2 Sixtyville on 2025-06-27 20:30 (Reply)
They're a pain, I know that.

We opt for mixed impatiens in front of the windows - jewels call to jewels.
#3 Codfanglers on 2025-06-28 07:34 (Reply)
We love the hummingbirds and to help offset other birds and bees I put up 3 to 5 feeders so they have a place to eat if the more aggressive birds come in. Our more aggressive birds a flickers and other small woodpeckers that drink so much nectar. Don't have nearly as many this years as in previous years.
#4 JC on 2025-06-28 09:42 (Reply)
The neighbor "hood" raccoon discovered out hummingbird feeder a month or so ago and now we need to take it inside at night - otherwise it gets emptied in about 5 seconds.
We should just plant more flowers and get rid of the feeder.
#5 sparkee on 2025-07-01 22:56 (Reply)

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