You were told wrong about taking your feeder down. You can leave it out as long as you want and you might even have a hummingbird all winter like the Tennessee lady in this story.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Rufie Chronicles

Mid November is when a lot of people take them down. But as sidk says you can take it down or not whenever you want!!

Ditto! Leaving the feeders out will not keep the hummers here . They are driven by drives much stronger than hunger. I left at least one feeder out late in the year just in case there was straggler who needed nourishment.

I am wondering when will it get cold enough for the Hummers to leave?? It was down to 38 degrees last nite.. although the went temp up quick this AM. At 8:30 AM it was 38 and by 9:30 it was 45. And the last 2 hanger on-ers are still here!! lol I sat out side to watch but they flew off. So I came inside and window watched.. and one was feeding and even perched for a while in between sips. I notice they are staying in the tree more and flying less.. is that to conserve energy and to fatten up for the trip?? A family member is in Atlanta this week..he said out in the boonies where hes staying they only have 3 Hummers left, and its in the 80s there. Supposed to get in the 80s this week here to.. do birds have built in weather radar along with their GPS system? :) Theres so much to learn..Also I visited our
local garden center.. and found out they have Hummingbird
feeder part replacments.. like bee guards and the little flower thingies.. I just thought that might be useful info pass on. I picked up extras for next yr. :)

I haven't seen my Hummer in CT for two weeks!! I miss my little friend. She comes late and leaves early =-(

alii--- It has been down to 42° here a couple of mornings and the birds are still here. Hummers can go into a condition called torpor in which you might think they are dead, but this condition helps to protect them at night and then it takes them a while to come out of this and then they are fine. Also when you first go outside they may fly away but if you go ahead and sit down and be perfectly still , they will come back and you can sit out there and watch them. They may even fly up into your face about 10inches away and stare at you , do not be alarmed, stare em down. They will go on with their activity. They do this to me and Im out there every morning drinking my coffee with them. After a time I think they get used to you being there. I happen to have a hummer friendly flowerbed right under the window has three winow feeders hanging from it. I sit just off to the side of the flower bed, actually with one of the plants very near me and the hummers will actually flutter between my legs in getting their nectar from the plants.

We still have three female ruby-throated as of yesterday. Leaving the feeders out and keeping them clean into late fall may just save a late migrator. We had one last year stay till mid-October. I've read it's the changing daylight hours that triggers them to leave. That and also when they've built up enough fat reserves. I've also read that later in the season you can change the mixture to 3 1/2 : 1 or 3 1/2 cups water to 1 cup sugar. It's thought to help them put on the pounds for the trip South.