Hi Lois,

They do not really have a schedule. Chances are good though that you will see the hummer on your honeysuckles again at some point as it is one of their favorites. Also look just after the sun comes up for a while and again about a half hour before it gets dark. They do tend to feed more heavily during these times, but do shoot in for quick drinks all day if you are in their territory. Problem is that if you just have one or two in your yard you really have to make the effort to see them, or else just be someone that spends time in the garden, as they move from plant to plant very quickly, and leave just as quickly.

If you are one that is willing to change sugar water and clean feeders often, every three days... everyday if the temps are in the high 90's, you might enjoy having a feeder right by your kitchen window. Just use water and sugar, 4 parts water to 1 part sugar. Stay away from the commercial red dye nectar mix as there are some studys that state that the red dye may be harmful to them and since they have no idea what color the stuff is that they are drinking might as well be clear like the real stuff. There is enough red on the feeders to initially attract them.

Have fun!

Ken

I agree with everything Ken has stated. I also feel that if you want to see hummers more often at your feeders that changing the mix daily or no more than every 2 days is critical. It can make a big difference.

Thanks for the info. I am often out in the garden before sunset, so hopefully I will see him again, yay!

Just didn't have many birds at my last place. Maybe 2 or 3. I decided to put up more feeders and when I got lots of birds then I would take them all down except for maybe a couple. Even though 30 birds can feed from one feeder, they would prefer at least 8 feeders. I had over 20 feeders up and anywhere from 10 birds to 75 or more during southward migration. I have never changed my feeders every 2-3 days, BUT I have started putting just enough nectar out for 4-5 days. I was very concerned about going on a trip of 6 days because I thought my birds would all be gone. Didn't happen; they were still all here drinking 6 day-old nectar. A few even prefered 15 day-old nectar that I had put 4 feet away and designated as "The Neighbor's Feeder". My feeders are all shaded until about 5 P.M. The temp while I was gone averaged around 98 degrees. I do think my glass bottle feeders keep the nectar fresh longer than plastic saucer feeders, but I have no proof of this. The entire surface area of the saucer is exposed to air. I'm not going to put up three 32 oz. feeders just so that I can change the nectar every 2 days. I think some of the less aggressive birds might fined another source. Currently I have 4 - 32oz. feeders filled and 4 - 32 oz. half full for 5 days (maybe 4). If I truely thought I had to change the feeders every two days as to not harm the birds, I would have quit feeding them years ago. My birds will not drink plain water or a 10-1 mix, so why would I think they will drink tainted nectar? My test feeder was drained after 15 days. No nectar, no birds. I don't normally leave nectar in more than 5-6 days; but if I go on vacation, I am not worried about 14 day-old nectar. I stick to my guns that hummers would rather die than drink spoiled or rotten nectar. I was hoping my birds would not drink the neighbor's nectar after about 14 days, but that didn't happen. If I have to, I will leave some out for 3-4 weeks to prove they won't drink it. I love the look of the saucer feeders and if I only had 3-4 birds or so, I would use those. I tried my first saucer feeder about 7 years ago and got to see that little tongue flicker around in the thing. I loved it. I added another one, but after just a couple of days I noticed the nectar was thick or sort of jelled. If I put those racoon damaged feeders back up, they will only be out about 3 days.

humm.... the other post you stated the hummers empty the feeder by 1/4 to 1/2 a day. That would mean that you would have to change the feeders every 2 to 4 days. How do you go with feeders that are 6 to 15 days old?

Let me be a little clearer for you. All 32oz. glass feeders. #1 Feeder has 16 oz. removed by birds on day one (1/2), #4 feeder has about 1/4 sipped by birds. If you take a string or straight edge and run it from the #1 feeder's level to the #4 feeder's level (passing feeders #2 & #3) the line will show how much is left in feeders #2 and #3. In other words the line will cross each feeder in exact level of that feeder. That's just four feeders. To get a 4 days run, I fill 4 feeders and fill another 4 half way. Forty-eight oz. per day times 4 equals 192. I had nectar that was 7 days old in several feeders and that was combined into a 32 oz. feeder to fill it (Neighbor's Feeder). Birds drank from this feeder for another 9 days (15 total). Fresh nectar was 4 feet away. This was just an experiment to see how long the birds would drink it. I have eight 32 oz. (4 half full)& one 16 oz. feeders up currently. I have 2 brand new 72 oz. feeders sitting on my bar that I put up last week while I was gone for 6 days. I just multiply 48 oz. times the number of days I will be gone. When I get back some feeders were empty and the one by my window was full. Both 72 oz. feeders were empty. I don't have any 16 oz. feeders up when I am gone and I have places for 11 feeders (currently but can add easily). 468 oz. would last for 9 days or more. I would put out some extra. My batch that I make in the morning will only be for 3 days. I did not understand how do you go with feeders that are 6-15 days old. I could not finish the test of the Neighbor's Feeder because the birds drank it all. My feeders will go no longer than 7 days unless I have a problem. I am trying to change them about every 4 days, but may switch to 7. I sure don't worry if I am gone 14 days unless I didn't have enough feeders. But I have tons of them.