Here’s why you’re seeing an abundance of hummingbirds in eastern Idaho

Excuse me! Sorry for another hummingbird story, but neighbors and friends are reporting an abundance of Rufous hummingbirds invading their feeders and flowers. With over 25 of them in my neighborhood, they sometimes sound like giant bees chasing each other around.

“I only had out one feeder and there was so many fighting over it that I went and bought three more,” reported one friend. “That did not seem to help as it seemed they only multiplied; but they are sure fun to watch!”

“I have even watched as a young one sat on a limb and the mother dripped nectar into its mouth,” reported my barber, Larry Ricks of Menan, while cutting my hair.

“It seems like each one has a favorite spot in the tree to perch and when another comes close, the chase is on.”

The reason we are seeing so many hummingbirds right now is because the fall migration is in full swing. Most of the ones that we are seeing now are the females, immature males and this year’s batch as most of the males have already migrated past southeastern Idaho.

Rufous hummers are long distance migrators as most winter in southwestern Mexico and follow the Pacific Coast on the way north to Canada or southern Alaska each spring. Their migration back to Mexico in the late summer and early fall is mostly through the Rocky Mountains where they take advantage of the high mountain flower blossoms. By mid-September, most will have passed through our neck of the woods but if we have full feeders, they may use our yards to build up their fat reserves for their summer 4000-mile flight.

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After my last article on the Black-chinned hummers, I got chastised for using “gifted” red-dyed “instant nectar” in one of my feeders. Hummingbirds are attracted to red, but the red dye put in “instant nectar” is not needed in the food to attract them and even may be harmful to the birds. The professional birders that feed large flocks of hummers use only sugar-water with a mixture of one part sugar dissolved in four parts of drinking water.

The hummers in my backyard have a love affair with my large garden with a portion of it covered with multicolored hollyhocks. While picking raspberries or pole beans in my orange shirt, the immature male hummers will be attracted to “check me out.” These immature males are the ones always picking fights with others – teenage boys at their worst.

These young males look mostly like females except they have begun acquiring their rufous colored feathers on their sides and sport a few flaming orange-red throat feathers, called their “five o’clock shadow.” They use their bills as weapons as they chase others from their favorite perch in their “self-appointed” territory, then returning to that perch.

In trying to get pictures of these birds, I learn where their favorite perch is and focus on it or study their movements to find out which is their favorite flower. Early morning and late evening are their most favorite times to be active.

Those of you who would like to have them show up in your yard, place hummingbird feeders loaded with sugar-water in May or early June next year. There are many other bird species that will also feed on them while you wait for the fall migration to start. You may still get a few coming through if there are other people feeding them in your neighborhood. They can add a lot of joy and fun in your own backyard.