I'm sure you made fresh hum food to see if that was it. I had a big flux of birds thru here a couple of weeks ago in south AR, but that has settled down now. I am curious as to whether they are still heading north from here? On a funnier note: I told one of my sister-in-laws a few years ago that hummers would not drink soured sugar water and she said THEY SURE WILL! , I saw one get a big old gulp out of my feeder and immediately spit it out. I never argued with her as to the fact that the bird did not drink it.

blz

Im sure if you a full season of hummers you are changing your mix correctly. I dont have hordes of hummers but I get a few and after they first showup I have a period where I dont see any for days then all at once there they are. A lot of times that coincides with the blooming of certain flowers or weather changes. I find hummers dont react exactly the same year after year.

We use a 4 to 1 mixture and change only 1/2 of the feeders at once. They aren't left without. Feeders are cleaned well at each filling. Our weather has been truly strange this year and I thought perhaps that was the problem.

We'll 'keep the light on' for the herd hoping they return. They are absolutely amazing little things. And, we saved a bunch on entertainment when they were here just watching them.

Thank you all for your input-----

I'm in southwest Missouri too and have noticed that Japanese honeysuckle is blooming now, perhaps for the last week or so. It's abundant most places and that might be drawing them away from the feeders. I always see less at my feeders this time of year but I don't know if it's the honeysuckle or their nesting habits.
I've been adding more plants every year to my yard to feed the hummingbirds. I get tired of cleaning and filling my feeders especially when the hummingbirds are scarce.

Welcome to Gardenweb by the way! If you're interested, Gardenweb also has a forum for gardening in the Ozarks.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ozarks Region Gardening - Gardenweb

I too am having a very unusual spotty hummer appearances. But yesterday I launched a hummzinger excel and right away a female claimed that as her own as she sat on the sheperds hook it was on protecting her feed supply head going side to side and running off any would be invaders. But I usually get more than my share of hummers but as yet that has not happened but Im sure things will pick up soon.

This is the time of year when many of the females head to the forests to make their nests and then feed their babies. They tend to stay near the nests and feed on small insects during this time. When the babies fledge you should see more traffic.

Same thing going on here in the NJ and NY!
Once my first female shows up, normally Mothers Day, they're here until September. Same with a coworker in Greenwood Lake, NY.
This year, we both got males first in late April, which was definitely a strange coincidence. Then came the female, he had a couple. Two weeks later, they're gone, and neither of us have seen any since. Now, I don't generally get a lot of hummers to begin with, but I did see one or two daily, for the last few years. Never had a lull. He had lots last year. Here it is, June, and we're going on 3 weeks hummerless. We're both whining.

I'm sure you have done nothing to run the hummers off. I feel fortunate to be somewhere in the middle of the migration path. But, our water supply went off for a couple of hours and then came back on (we drink mostly bottle water except for coffee, and tea); we had coffee that next morning and went to town. When I came back from town, I put my glass and a half of sugar in the jug and then scalding water and some cool; it was so dark and nasty looking (might not have noticed if it had dye in it). Water man did come out to my house........ lines flushed. On other rare occasions, the chlorine will knock you down. Maybe you have well water or maybe your water system never has to shock the system. I would say the chlorine taste might be fairly rare and the nasty water even more rare.

I here in PA with the same experience. I had regular
visitors here about a month ago. Then we had a week and a half of heavy rains. Then we had a heatwave a few days ago. I haven't seen one hummingbird since all this crazy weather started.
Kim

Here is a link that might be useful: My Garden

Same dang thing happening here in western suburbs of Denver! I had one (a broadtail that goes to the mtns) in April that drank, heard one a week ago but saw nothing. However!!! I was walking with a friend in one town west of me, where the foothills begin, and they were all over the place! Now, every year I have almost all summer long blackchinned hummers. I haven't seen one! The weather patterns have been so weird, I have to think that's part of it.