Most likely Anna's :-) It's been my observation these little guys have become fairly well adapted to this area - I've had overwintering Anna's in my old garden for years. I tended not to put out feeders during the growing season - there was more than enough food sources for them - but I did supplement with feeders during the winter. I also planted a lot of winter flowering hummingbird attractors as well, primarily because I enjoyed the birds presence in my garden in winter. I wouldn't worry too much about them starving - they are pretty resourceful, can go into a semi-hibernating state if the weather becomes too severe and rely just as heavily on the proteins from insects as they do plant nectar.

Since I've been in garden transit for the last few months, I have been pleasantly surprised to see just how prevalent these birds are to this area - I see and hear them everywhere!! Still have to unpack my feeder now that I am in my new location, but I've already started adding hummingbird plants - mahonia, flowering currant, various summer attractors like heucheras, Phygelius, hardy fuchsia, salvia. Thinking seriously about a witch hazel.......

Thanks Gardengal. I know I saw a hummer last year, very late in the fall, so I'm not surprised to see more this year. Is Witch Hazel the earliest bloomer? I have snowdrops and aconite that bloom in January (unless they are covered with snow!). I guess today is the last day before fall sets in here, so I'd better get the garden put to bed in the next couple of weeks. It's hard to believe it's almost October!

They love Grevillea victoriae, which blooms fall through spring in this region.

Do deer eat it too?

Early this past spring I was suprised to see hummers feeding on Pulmonarias.

CathyJ
Olympia, WA

Dotty I have Viburnum x bodnantense which blooms right through the winter here, we often see the Anna's visiting it from our dining room window.

Thanks bboy and AM. They both look like pretty plants to grow for the little hummers. Most likely too late to plant any for this winter, but perhaps next spring.

I absolutely love my Viburnum bodnantense! You might also consider Red-flowering Currant(Ribes sanguineum) if you don't already have it, also Salmonberry(Rubus spectabilis)and Twinberry(Lonicera involucrata. I also agree your hummingbird is most likely an Anna's Hummingbird, as the Rufous are mostly gone for the year. I still have one Rufous Hummingbird visiting my backyard as of today, the lastest date I have ever seen one. Good luck with your hummer garden! Ruth

There are lots of winter flowering plants that will attract hummingbirds.......to be honest, I've seen Anna's visit just about everything/anything that blooms in winter in my garden - mahonias, sarcococca, witch hazels, hellebores, winter heaths, Clematis cirrhosa, grevillea, hesperantha, bergenia, correas (when they have lived through our winters), Iris unguicularis and Viburnum tinus 'Spring Bouquet'.

Flowering currant blooms a bit later than most of these, but it is a huge hummer attracting plant. And it doesn't have to be the pink flowered form - 'White Icicle' attracts them like crazy!

They were all over my Pulmonarias too. I was surprised to see them so close to the ground and at blue flowers.

I have seen migrating Rufous as late as early October but Rufous aren't very green. You most likely have an Anna's. They're not very particular as to what they feed from.

Don't worry about luring them into staying and then starving when you leave. Anna's are not a migratory species, but are expanding their range, and some individuals will die in the process, as they push into areas that may not be survivable in some winters. That's how species expand their ranges. It's a risky business, and it won't always pay off for individual hummers. I think it's the spread of human development, and the resulting clearing of forests and planting of exotic plants, that is encouraging the Anna's to expand their range into our area. Not your individual actions, but our society's as a whole.