I have 4 feeders and tons and tons of flowers I have a bully bird who literally flies over my house to protect the feeder out back and out front. He's nuts.
Brittany Myers SAME!! I have 3 feeders out back and and 2 feeders in my front yard. I have hanging baskets of 🌺 flowers everywhere. I also have 2 Bird baths I keep with fresh water all the time. I noticed a very Aggressive Hummingbird that chases away about 7 other Hummingbirds all day long! I'm shocked how aggressive this Hummingbird is!
Heyyy good to hear from ya Steve! Yeah there’s a few things we can do to help reduce aggression but as much as we would all like them to get along in the end males being territorial is normal hummingbird behavior and how they would behave in the wild when they find a good patch of flowers. I just do what I can to try to give them all an equal opportunity to try their luck among each other haha thanks for watching and hope to see you sometime soon once I get back home
We are looking forward to seeing you and the fam when we get up that way. Congratulations on all you've accomplished. I really enjoy watching your TH-cam videos.
What a pleasant young man you are! You look to me like someone this old grandma would love to have as a neighbor. I bet you don't have a boom box blaring from your car. You seem very respectful. And gave some great tips, I too have a bully hummingbird, so I will try to space feeders further apart.
I agree, in addition to 2 feeders try plating bird/bee and butterfly perennials. No as much action at the feeder, but a better more natural food source in the Summer.
Thanks for the tips. Two summers ago I got my first feeder, and I fell in love! They are beautiful and so much fun to watch. It’s amazing how they are so smart and curious, they’ll fly right up to you and just hover in midair, checking you out. One of my favorite things to do is to set up my dslr camera on a tripod, zoom in and let it run on video and I walk away. I can catch some amazing shots, I’ll even set up my phone to take slow motion video, too. I could watch for hours, lol, they’re so fascinating.
I have one feeder in the front of the house and one in the back and that’s enough for two older people to keep clean and fill! I call the two “guys, “Bully Boid..” Here in San Jose, CA the Anna’s stay and seem to share nicely through the winter. I’m kinda for leaving them to their own devices, as they never seem to physically harm each other. And then “Star Wars” are fun. Nature knows best most of the time ~ 🌹
Thank you. I have some new hummingbirds this year the same came back this year. The red throated hummingbird runs and chases all of them im constantly yelling at him I just want all the hummingbirds he needs to stop. I'll put more feeders and space them out.
I am not far from Seattle and for the firs time have an aggressive hummingbird, it will stay on the feeder for many many hours and if not then on branches near by and chase away any other hummingbird and even other birds too, like nuthatches. I added a second feeder but I had to move it far away so it can't see it.
This is great info, but I think I'm stuck with the male rufous hummingbird, a particularly aggressive species, I've read. I already have two hanging feeders and he guards both! Also, his "perch" is the telephone wire outside of my balcony, so I can't take that away from him. I have one more standing hook where I can put a third feeder, but I don't have a large back yard. I'm so sad because at least three more want to eat here and he's chasing them all away. But if you have any other suggestions, I'm all ears. Thanks again.
I have three feeders out and they will suck one dry while the other two are still full. I've even moved one closer to the prefered one- they're exact. But no- they get fixated on one. They're fascinating but strange stunt pilots.
I like to encourage the aggression by adding a few drops of vodka to my feeders and offering the winner of each engagement an exclusive fight night bonus of honey.
I recently had a male claim one of my feeders and he will not leave the feeder. He perches on it almost all day and runs any other birds off. So now the sugar water is being wasted bc he can’t feed on it enough in between when I change it out. So frustrating. The other feeder I have multiple birds will sit together and have a drink.
I had several of them eating from my hands then I went on vacation only to return to two ruby red throats that are bullying all my buddies away. I’m now trying to figure out before they head south for winter how to stop the Ruby’s from doing this. There are less hummingbirds coming around because of them. They are absolute jerks to the others. I will try adding a couple more feeders because I only have one right now but I’m so discouraged after losing the ability to hand feed them. I worked hard to get there and now it’s completely gone 😞
I agree with Bravo, there’s really no good way. Best thing I’ve done is get good quality feeders that don’t spill/leak and have bee guards. One thing I’ve done is I have a feeder that isn’t one of my best that the wasp seem to get on more than others. I treat it like a “sacrificial feeder” they get on it and leave my others alone for the most part. Flowers and flowering shrubs might help but is Bravo said it won’t stop them totally unfortunately. I think we all have wasp issues at some point so you’re definitely not alone haha
Wasps like to hang out close to their nest in a cool location. Find where they hang out and bring your shop vac out for some spring cleaning. Two or three days of this and your problem will be solved. If you have a Silver Maple tree in your yard the wasps like to hang out on the seed pods.
I bought the saucer shaped feeder, plain red...wasps are attracted to the color yellow...the saucer feeder has ant mote. Its designed for the hummers long tongues to reach the nectar, but wasps can't get to it. I love mine, no more wasps!
Hummers are aggressive. Male hummers are aggressive. Female hummers are aggressive. It's what they do. They know how to be hummingbirds. If you want to feed them and share their space, thats fine. Enjoy them for what they are. Otherwise, take down the feeders. They don't need a social activist trying to enforce maladaptice human standards of behavior.
I have a couple of feeders here at home. I can´t believe that the hummingbirds put pressure on me to refill the feeder! I have the feeders in my balcony, if I notice hummingbirds flying near my home office window I just know the feeder is empty. They start hovering with their beaks glued to my window, just staring at me like " FEEDER. REFILL. NOW." Thanks for the tips, I noticed the bully here, there is a big ass hummingbird that just doesn´t allow others to come and drink, he is on a constant stake out, keeping guard. Today I noticed two little hummingbirds on the floor of my balcony, one was shocked, I Don´t know what happened,, I think he was a bit concussed and recovering, must have crashed into another one mid air. One of his buddies was next to him, waiting for him to get better. I approached them and they did not even care, even allowed me to pet them. I am pretty sure they know me. The big one and his gang are of a different kind of humming bird, they have some white parts on them, whereas these little ones are all greenish/blueish, they have those feathers that reflect a metallic color.
Rollo Tape How's your Hummingbird's doing now? My Hummingbird's do the same when my feeder's get low or empty. They fly in front of my kitchen window or if I'm upstairs in the Bathroom...I see them come close to the Large Bathroom window... telling me to fill the feeders now!😆
I'm dealing with this on my patio; one bully too aggressive for his own good. Sadly, I do not have space for more than two feeders. But I did think of this as a means to spread out the feeders. I love to watch them feed, but I get annoyed that one bully is scaring off all the other birds. I thought of him gone, but then realized another one would just take his place... it is just their nature. So, one of the things I noticed or our little bully, he likes to sit in a tree not far from our patio that give him a bird-eye view of the feeder. So, I move the feeder down below the fence line just out of sight of his perch and view. But then I notice he just got higher up the tree to surveil the feeder -- that little bugger. So, I just moved the feeder back into its regular spot. When he's out chasing other birds, some other HBs do manage to get a drink. But he's back quickly to guard his feeder.
I had a Rufous Hummingbird come in to my yard two summers ago. Even though he was beautiful in orange and rust colors he was a huge bully! I had 5 hummingbird feeders, 4 spaced out in back and 1 in front. He would sit on a branch way up top of my cherry tree and guard all 4 feeders out back including flower pots I had around my yard, running off every hummingbird!! The only feeder the birds had a chance at was the one in the front yard. He was here for months!! Luckily, he didn’t come back the following summer!
Good thing I already have 16 feeders, one cannot guard them all . hahahaha I noticed it by doing it for more than 3 months. thanks for your video. It confirms what I was thinking. I have more than 70 individual humming birds coming everyday, I lost counting them. and I am enjoying watching them every moments. What a beautiful creatures they are !! Watching them flying, feeding, chasing each other makes my soul smiling !!
@@thomasprislacjr.4063 I am cleaning all the feeders every day cause they are emptying all the feeders . Takes about 1 hour . I am thinking reducing the # of feeders to 12.
@@thomasprislacjr.4063 I don't think you have to 'sterilize' the feeders every nectar change. I change my nectar three times a week and simply rinse and dry the feeders. No mold forms when I do that. If I were to go a week, then I'd sterilize. And proper cleaning is pretty easy; rinse, wipe, soak in vinegar and water mixture for an hour, rinse, dry, fill with nectar and you're done.
Put your additional feeders out of sight of each other for maximum benefit. If your birds stay through the Winter, they might be Anna’s Hummingbirds. They are found in the western US. Very territorial, usually one bird per feeder. If many of your birds share a feeder, they are likely a species that goes south for the Winter to tropical climes. Some believe those birds share because there’s so much food in their southern habitats there’s no need to fight.
People new to birding: If you have hummingbird feeders, please know that you have to sterilize them constantly -- at least 3x a week in summertime. Once a week in wintertime. Otherwise, bacteria grows in them. This can be fatal to hummers. I question the wisdom of putting up a lot of feeders -- because you absolutely have to clean then. As was mentioned here, put up natural sources of nectar; even in wintertime you can put up Yuletide camellias or pineapple sage, for example, that bloom all through November.
I have pineapple sage that did great the past couple years but this year shortly after the flowers started blooming, they all died and fell off…and never grew back!? Any ideas on what caused this?
It's really fascinating to watch. We have a male that will literally perch on the shepherd's pole we hang one of our feeders on and he constantly looking around for another to chase off LOL. Seeing them fight in the air is interesting it's like a hummingbird tornado. They lock eyes and spin in a circler motion flying straight up then dart off.
Great info. Thanks. I put out a feeder yesterday and right away noticed one bird fighting off any other one that tried to take a drink. I guess I’ll add some more feeders.
Me and my husband have five hummingbird feeders. We're originally both from North Carolina. But we moved to South Carolina a little over two and a half years ago and every since we moved into our home we seen the hummingbirds so we put up hummingbird feeders.. Late February mid-march every year like clockwork. But this year the main female and the main male that would be territorial over the feeders. Arrived late this year so I had about 7 hummingbird that just popped up. Okay well I keep my feeders changed we make homemade nectar they like that better than the store bought. But nevertheless there is a tree that this particular male hummingbird sits in. off to the side of my yard that I knew for sure when the one male hummingbird arrived he always sits in that tree. He will stare at all the feeders and every now and then he'll let the hummingbirds get a little bit of sugar water but if he feels like they're there too long he'll start attacking them. even though it's supposed to be a territorial thing. most of them are females that come. But nevertheless I have plenty of features put up . And he acts like he just wants to be the only one eating off of all five fingers . I watched this video and maybe it can teach me something to do a little different. But I think they are so beautiful. Thanks for your video.
I also have two hummingbird feeders in my yard. There is an aggressive male here too. However, my feeders are far enough apart that they barely run into one another. All this talk about viciousness among hummers, is never mentioned on specials or documentaries. These hummers are treated with reverence as the jewels of the sky. And they are. I’ve been entertained all summer.
This year, their is a male "chad" Hummingbird who has domination over 5 feeders. Though, they are all on the back porch so fairly close together. He spends much of his time living the life and just perches on the porch less than a foot from a feeder all day. I might be able to do something by spreading the feeders out a bit more.
Anna’s hummingbirds are the most common in my area. I feed all year 365 days, they do not leave even in 4* f a few weeks ago. We revived 1 and another that was outside frozen to the feeder, we brought inside. To warm up. Feed I bought a heated feeder.
You've relieved a lot of stress for me. I thought it was something I was doing wrong. I've seen photos of 20 or more hummingbirds all gathered around a circle of feeders seemingly happy as can be. I have three feeders right now. I guess I'll get more. Thanks..
That’s also different for different locations. Rock wall Texas is a big pit stop for the birds so those picture of 20+ at a feeder are from places with high concentration. I at most have 5-6 at a time and usually not that many
Thank you for making this video. I’ve been watching and feeding My Hummies for going on 4 years now; this year, we have a bully - (quite a chubby bully at that!) 😉 He has appointed himself the King of our yard! I have four feeders up and he tries to take ownership of every one of them! Well, after watching your very helpful video, I’m going to put what I’ve learned to use - immediately! I’ll let you know how it goes. Thank you!
@@TheMoreYouGrow it’s been a success! I now have 8 feeders up and no more Bully! (Well, for now!) I don’t think he knows what hit him - he tried darting after the many Hummies that now, happily feed and get their fill, but finally gave up and relinquished his self-appointed authority! My front, back and side yards are quite busy spots now, with various species of beautiful Hummingbirds! Thank you for your very enlightening video. Happy Humming!! 🌷
Thank you so much , I'm new to feeding hummingbirds, and so far only have 1 feeder and I have a Bully young male and like 7 or 8 hummingbirds comming to this 1 feeder and he chases every one off every day, I'm gonna get more for sure.i feel so bad for the others that he does this.i will definitely take your suggestions and keep watching. 🥰 I love to watch them especially when doing my dishes, feeder is hung outside my kitchen window.They are beautiful
We went from 4 to 9 feeders over three neighbors yards and everyone is getting along better then last year we had about 16 last year and some of them would sit and watch one feeder and be a butthead .
I've got two feeders coming down from my overhang, one with a perch and one without, I just spaced them out further to try to mitigate my bully boy. Great video
Have had trouble in the past with aggressive hummingbirds. I usually space the feeders about 15 feet apart, 4 of them. Seems to do the trick, however, sometimes a hyper aggressive bird will manage to run others off of 2 or three feeders. You mentioned Turks Cap as a natural food source. I agree, the humming birds really go for them, but that plant is a growth monster. You have to have a good amount of room for it. I finally got sick of pruning it back, up to 6 times per year and removed them. I need another natural source that doesn't take over the yard. Thanks for the video.
When I go out to feed my animals, I make sure all the bird feeders have plenty of food in them. I'm there for an hour and a half usually. Approximately 15 minutes of that time is preparing grain for my horse and donkey. Another 10 mins is spent watering my watermelon. The rest of the time is spent filling 3 squirrel proof feeders and cleaning and refilling 3 hummingbird feeders as needed. Then I sit in my lawn chair and watch all the birds while I wait for my animals to finish. I said all that to explain that the majority of my time I'm watching the hummers. I have seen one gorgeous male hummer (ruby throated). The rest are aggressive little females. Evidently he had been a very busy boy. But those little females only share a feeder at the end of the day and early morning. Otherwise they are chasing each other off the feeders.
Thank you so much for this super informative video! It explained a lot. I have 2 feeders now which has been more beneficial than the one in keeping the bully at bay…at least somewhat. ❤️
LOL you just explained everything I've been observing in a new home. I bought a second feeder today and now seeing this video. Appreciate the info! I definitely have a male with a favorite branch--- however this one is just out of reach, to break off haha!
Tie a rock or something with a little weight to a rope and throw it up around the branch then grab both of ends and try to break the branch if it’s a small enough to break by pulling. Just an idea.
Today witnessed cute little angry guy flying straight up to the sky and then, sioer fast with loud wistle-like noise he was flying super close to another one sitting on the branch close to a feeder. He did that about 5 times until the other one just left. Serched youtube and your video explained it well 😊 Did not know they are THAT territorial 🤔 Also buying few more feeders 🤗
once I started hanging out on patio close to feeder , making sure they recognize me as the source of that daily refill of filtered sugar water that are all friendly to me . I felt like the one sitting on my feeder hanger was just telling me " yeah I'm comfortable enough to sit with you " any and all animals even fish will respond to food love
Yep same here. When its feeder refill time , they start flying around looking for it and if they see me they fly over to where I am , or at the window to watch me.
SAME!! I have a Cherry Tomato 🍅 vine near on of my feeder's. I was on a step stool picking tomatoes & a Hummingbird landed on my right shoulder. He definitely recognized I was supplying it with food! He wasn't afraid at all😊
I have a bully that will fly other hummingbirds straight to the ground. They keep coming back and this one will just beat them up :( Never thought I’d say it but I want it to go away.
I find the title of the video a little weird when I look at my backyard. My female Anna's Hummingbird is the big boss, and she runs everyone else off, male or female.
Here in Brazil the most popular hummingbirds living in urban areas is the "Beija-flor tesoura" (Swallow tailed hummingbird) but with 5 feeders on my yard the "Leader" still keep aggressive with another neighbor hummingbirds and another birds. This swallow tailed hummingbird is very angry.
Very helpful information! We have one bully bird on a snag branch which has a great vantage point to the 2 feeders we have. We’re thinking of getting more and maybe clipping off the branch…but maybe not! We enjoy watching him in action!😂
I have 8 feeders spread around my house on 2 sides. I have what i believe to be 1 extreme bully guarding them all. He sits in a pine tree where he can observe them all and ruthlessly attacks any that come near. i didn't mind in the summer when there was plenty of food sources for the others around but now there is snow on the ground and he wont allow any others to feed.Now there is snow on the ground and he is super aggressive with other hummers and i worry they will starve in this freezing weather. I go out in the morning and remove the snow and defrost the feeders. At times i have seen as many as 6 at a time but as soon as 1 lands on a feeder he attacks and drives them away. nothing funny about him
Oh my goodness Everything you said to a t is what's going on in my yard He does have a dead branch or however you worded it but it's really high at the very top of my very large lemon tree I can't reach it. I was wondering though Can them mail actually hurt the other hummingbirds? Can he poke the other ones with his long beak and will he?
Hate the thought of maintaining 4 or more feeders, but I got bully issues. Thinkin about making my own system using vinyl hose, with attractive piercings properly spaced along its length, and a single reservoir. Don't know zackly how to rig it yet, just thinkin out loud. Yes, I'm crazy.
You wouldn’t necessarily have to have 4, they’d just the number that worked in my yard, I feel ya though. That’s a good idea though! They make something similar to that that I’ve seen online but should be easy to make and they sell the feeder flowers pretty cheap 🤔. If I end up making one on the channel next year I’ll give ya credit 😜
I'm still waiting for some practical & workable inspiration from my "Inner Bean". lol. I was concerned that cheap enough plastic hose will taint the nectar, plus the distance apart really throws a wrench in the gears. As I write this it occurred to me to use rigid PVC or CPVC pipe instead, for the perch, mounting clips and all. Perhaps such a "Linear feeder" could be mounted on a wrap around deck rail, or under soffit. Possibly even plumbed so reservoir is indoors. What about "Blinders" set up between...Hmmm...What if a single "possessed" feeder was covered, lampshade style, still allowing access from top and bottom, but makin it harder for the male to spot intruders and get to them? It would catch more wind for one...
I got an agressive one, it's been chasing out others. I removed that from that location and to another. I've placed two feeders close together. So far many have been feeding.
Females can be aggressive if food is scarce but not as much as males. They are easy to tell apart. Like most birds the males have all the flashy colors and females are mostly grey.
I think all my hummingbirds are male LOL. I put up 2 feeders, I have about 5-6 hummingbirds going at each other WILD!! I mean, WILD! My cat can't keep up with their speed, going against each other. I will put up another feeder and get some plants. This is CRAZY. They are very aggressive
I'm in Georgia. Do you think the humming birds will staying over the winter or they are going to leave and where will they go? Thank you for your information. You're the first to talk about bird agression! Thanks a lot
The birds even in Georgia will migrate before winter. The Georgia hummingbirds most often just fly over the Gulf of Mexico and over winter in central and South America
Thank u so much! I'm going to give it a go n see what happens. I'm also having to move the feeders now bc of bees! I've never had this problem before. Very frustrating for the birds n myself. It breaks my heart everytime they come to there regular spot. I have a big tree with snag branches where I could put the other feeder. The problem, it's right by all the other bird feeders. Maybe 15, 20 ft. away. Advise please🙏
I find that some times putting the feeder in the shade helps more for bees sometimes. Moving the feeder sometimes also helps because bees have a set location that the relay to the others of the feeder location and on top of that they mark it with pheromones so the others can find it. So for bees I would say wash the whole feeder really well (be sure to rinse well) and move the feeder location. Doesn’t always work but sometimes it does. I also just spray them with the water hose sprayer from a distance and if you make it annoying enough they will leave sometimes too. I don’t blast them or anything just enough they don’t want to just hang out. And if you want to try putting it by the tree just move the other bird feeder. Song birds really don’t care where their feeder is, they just go where the seed is lol
@@TheMoreYouGrow Thank you so much this information is so valuable to me! Thank you! I spent yesterday all freaked out over this.I hated disrupting the hummers lives, but they seem fine(knock on wood.) There isn't any fighting bc I moved them a little further a part. So, so far everything you've told me is all solid, quality, wonderful, advice!!! Thank you for helping me!!❤❤🤗🤗😊😊
We are having a bit of a cold snap in Portland right now, and all of a sudden an Anna's that has had no issue sharing 2 feeders in my backyard is now spending most of his waking hours chasing off another Anna's. The little jerk. There's plenty for both, and the other one could use the calories at this time of year. As a matter of fact, I really don't understand how these little Anna's survive overwintering this far north. Tough little buggers.
THANK YOU FOR POSTING THIS VIDEO 🙏 I HAVE TWO FEEDS AND MAYBE 3 BIRDS AND I LOVE WATCHING THE HUMMINGBIRDS 💓 IF I PUT OTHER FEEDERS OUT WHERE I CAN'T SEE THEM, AND I'M GLAD THERE'S MANY NATURAL FLOWERS THEY CAN DRINK🇺🇸😎
I have added a little extra sugar and now have an aggressive female guarding my cluster of feeders, everyone has played nice all summer till she showed up! I think I'll cut back some and see if that helps!
okay not trying to be a creeper or anything but you are too cute! Like in a best friend sort of way, who I would probably occasionally dote over . 🤭 Plus your voice is for lack of a better word, very "smooth". I easily could've watched 10 more minutes of you talking about hummingbirds 😄
Could be. You never know with these guys lol just trial and error. I’d say move them closer. If they are all too busy chasing each other it gives the other less aggressive birds a chance while they are busy
I have 4 feeders and tons and tons of flowers I have a bully bird who literally flies over my house to protect the feeder out back and out front. He's nuts.
Brittany Myers
SAME!!
I have 3 feeders out back and and 2 feeders in my front yard.
I have hanging baskets of 🌺 flowers everywhere. I also have 2 Bird baths I keep with fresh water all the time. I noticed a very Aggressive Hummingbird that chases away about 7 other Hummingbirds all day long! I'm shocked how aggressive this Hummingbird is!
let nature BE mature. stop interfering because it mimics a part of your life you hate
I now have the same problem. Did you ever figure out how to stop the bully?
@weathergirl369cloud we are nature. We are animals. What are you on about?
I have one too. It sits on the telephone line running thru the tree and watches. The other birds were there 1st
Great video. Michelle and I have been watching a "bully hummingbird" all season and have learned from this video. Thank you.
Heyyy good to hear from ya Steve! Yeah there’s a few things we can do to help reduce aggression but as much as we would all like them to get along in the end males being territorial is normal hummingbird behavior and how they would behave in the wild when they find a good patch of flowers. I just do what I can to try to give them all an equal opportunity to try their luck among each other haha thanks for watching and hope to see you sometime soon once I get back home
We are looking forward to seeing you and the fam when we get up that way. Congratulations on all you've accomplished. I really enjoy watching your TH-cam videos.
Very helpful
What a pleasant young man you are! You look to me like someone this old grandma would love to have as a neighbor. I bet you don't have a boom box blaring from your car. You seem very respectful. And gave some great tips, I too have a bully hummingbird, so I will try to space feeders further apart.
I agree, in addition to 2 feeders try plating bird/bee and butterfly perennials. No as much action at the feeder, but a better more natural food source in the Summer.
Thanks a lot! I have a crazy male guarding my feeder!! Your tips really helped!!
Thanks for the tips. Two summers ago I got my first feeder, and I fell in love! They are beautiful and so much fun to watch. It’s amazing how they are so smart and curious, they’ll fly right up to you and just hover in midair, checking you out. One of my favorite things to do is to set up my dslr camera on a tripod, zoom in and let it run on video and I walk away. I can catch some amazing shots, I’ll even set up my phone to take slow motion video, too. I could watch for hours, lol, they’re so fascinating.
I have one feeder in the front of the house and one in the back and that’s enough for two older people to keep clean and fill! I call the two “guys, “Bully Boid..” Here in San Jose, CA the Anna’s stay and seem to share nicely through the winter. I’m kinda for leaving them to their own devices, as they never seem to physically harm each other. And then “Star Wars” are fun. Nature knows best most of the time ~ 🌹
Thank you for the information on hummingbirds! 🌼
Agree, love hummingbirds. My favorite feeder is first nature flat bottom feeder. I have 3 feeders helps the bullies.
THANK YOU!! I looked you up and you answered my call! Perfect! 👍
This was very helpful!! Thank you for the advice and ideas!
Good to know because I witnessed for the first time today they were fighting over the feeder so now I just need to add more
This is a great video with a lot of helpful info. Thank you!
Thank you. I have some new hummingbirds this year the same came back this year. The red throated hummingbird runs and chases all of them im constantly yelling at him I just want all the hummingbirds he needs to stop. I'll put more feeders and space them out.
I do the same! Lol
The neighbors probably think your nuts!!
@@panterita1177 meeee toooo
I am not far from Seattle and for the firs time have an aggressive hummingbird, it will stay on the feeder for many many hours and if not then on branches near by and chase away any other hummingbird and even other birds too, like nuthatches. I added a second feeder but I had to move it far away so it can't see it.
Smart solution 👍
This is great info, but I think I'm stuck with the male rufous hummingbird, a particularly aggressive species, I've read. I already have two hanging feeders and he guards both! Also, his "perch" is the telephone wire outside of my balcony, so I can't take that away from him. I have one more standing hook where I can put a third feeder, but I don't have a large back yard. I'm so sad because at least three more want to eat here and he's chasing them all away. But if you have any other suggestions, I'm all ears. Thanks again.
Might enlist your neighbors and see if anyone else would also like to attract these beautiful birds to their yard!
Thanks for the info! You brought up some points I haven't heard on other videos out there :-)
I have three feeders out and they will suck one dry while the other two are still full. I've even moved one closer to the prefered one- they're exact. But no- they get fixated on one. They're fascinating but strange stunt pilots.
For us city folk, hummingbirds ARE A NATURAL detergent for mfn pigeons AND flies
Excellent video thanks so much
Thanks for the info.
Cutest freeloaders
I like to encourage the aggression by adding a few drops of vodka to my feeders and offering the winner of each engagement an exclusive fight night bonus of honey.
It doesnt work for mine. They prefer rum !
You must be joking.
@@birhb6372 No
😅
😂
I recently had a male claim one of my feeders and he will not leave the feeder. He perches on it almost all day and runs any other birds off. So now the sugar water is being wasted bc he can’t feed on it enough in between when I change it out. So frustrating. The other feeder I have multiple birds will sit together and have a drink.
@@CassieThomas it really if frustrating when they do that
I had several of them eating from my hands then I went on vacation only to return to two ruby red throats that are bullying all my buddies away. I’m now trying to figure out before they head south for winter how to stop the Ruby’s from doing this. There are less hummingbirds coming around because of them. They are absolute jerks to the others. I will try adding a couple more feeders because I only have one right now but I’m so discouraged after losing the ability to hand feed them. I worked hard to get there and now it’s completely gone 😞
That is really cool that you could hand feed them! Hope the video helps solve your problems 👍
How do you keep wasps away from the feeders?
I agree with Bravo, there’s really no good way. Best thing I’ve done is get good quality feeders that don’t spill/leak and have bee guards. One thing I’ve done is I have a feeder that isn’t one of my best that the wasp seem to get on more than others. I treat it like a “sacrificial feeder” they get on it and leave my others alone for the most part. Flowers and flowering shrubs might help but is Bravo said it won’t stop them totally unfortunately. I think we all have wasp issues at some point so you’re definitely not alone haha
Wasps like to hang out close to their nest in a cool location. Find where they hang out and bring your shop vac out for some spring cleaning. Two or three days of this and your problem will be solved. If you have a Silver Maple tree in your yard the wasps like to hang out on the seed pods.
Get some wasp traps
I bought the saucer shaped feeder, plain red...wasps are attracted to the color yellow...the saucer feeder has ant mote.
Its designed for the hummers long tongues to reach the nectar, but wasps can't get to it. I love mine, no more wasps!
I have 3 feeders up on 3 sides of the house and I just get 3 bully H-birds. 🤨
Hummers are aggressive.
Male hummers are aggressive. Female hummers are aggressive. It's what they do. They know how to be hummingbirds.
If you want to feed them and share their space, thats fine. Enjoy them for what they are. Otherwise, take down the feeders. They don't need a social activist trying to enforce maladaptice human standards of behavior.
I have a couple of feeders here at home. I can´t believe that the hummingbirds put pressure on me to refill the feeder! I have the feeders in my balcony, if I notice hummingbirds flying near my home office window I just know the feeder is empty. They start hovering with their beaks glued to my window, just staring at me like " FEEDER. REFILL. NOW." Thanks for the tips, I noticed the bully here, there is a big ass hummingbird that just doesn´t allow others to come and drink, he is on a constant stake out, keeping guard. Today I noticed two little hummingbirds on the floor of my balcony, one was shocked, I Don´t know what happened,, I think he was a bit concussed and recovering, must have crashed into another one mid air. One of his buddies was next to him, waiting for him to get better. I approached them and they did not even care, even allowed me to pet them. I am pretty sure they know me. The big one and his gang are of a different kind of humming bird, they have some white parts on them, whereas these little ones are all greenish/blueish, they have those feathers that reflect a metallic color.
Rollo Tape
How's your Hummingbird's doing now? My Hummingbird's do the same when my feeder's get low or empty. They fly in front of my kitchen window or if I'm upstairs in the Bathroom...I see them come close to the Large Bathroom window... telling me to fill the feeders now!😆
I'm dealing with this on my patio; one bully too aggressive for his own good. Sadly, I do not have space for more than two feeders. But I did think of this as a means to spread out the feeders. I love to watch them feed, but I get annoyed that one bully is scaring off all the other birds. I thought of him gone, but then realized another one would just take his place... it is just their nature. So, one of the things I noticed or our little bully, he likes to sit in a tree not far from our patio that give him a bird-eye view of the feeder. So, I move the feeder down below the fence line just out of sight of his perch and view. But then I notice he just got higher up the tree to surveil the feeder -- that little bugger. So, I just moved the feeder back into its regular spot. When he's out chasing other birds, some other HBs do manage to get a drink. But he's back quickly to guard his feeder.
I had a Rufous Hummingbird come in to my yard two summers ago. Even though he was beautiful in orange and rust colors he was a huge bully! I had 5 hummingbird feeders, 4 spaced out in back and 1 in front. He would sit on a branch way up top of my cherry tree and guard all 4 feeders out back including flower pots I had around my yard, running off every hummingbird!! The only feeder the birds had a chance at was the one in the front yard. He was here for months!! Luckily, he didn’t come back the following summer!
Good thing I already have 16 feeders, one cannot guard them all . hahahaha
I noticed it by doing it for more than 3 months. thanks for your video. It confirms what I was thinking. I have more than 70 individual humming birds coming everyday, I lost counting them. and I am enjoying watching them every moments.
What a beautiful creatures they are !! Watching them flying, feeding, chasing each other makes my soul smiling !!
I found out too by trial and error. I have 6 feeders and planning to get more.
You sterilize all of these feeders? 3 times a week in the warmer months? If you do, you are a disciplined person!
@@thomasprislacjr.4063 I am cleaning all the feeders every day cause they are emptying all the feeders .
Takes about 1 hour . I am thinking reducing the # of feeders to 12.
@@thomasprislacjr.4063 I don't think you have to 'sterilize' the feeders every nectar change. I change my nectar three times a week and simply rinse and dry the feeders. No mold forms when I do that. If I were to go a week, then I'd sterilize. And proper cleaning is pretty easy; rinse, wipe, soak in vinegar and water mixture for an hour, rinse, dry, fill with nectar and you're done.
😮 70 hummers 🥰
Thanks a lot! I have a crazy male guarding my feeder!! He even chases females off!! Your tips really helped!!
Put your additional feeders out of sight of each other for maximum benefit.
If your birds stay through the Winter, they might be Anna’s Hummingbirds. They are found in the western US. Very territorial, usually one bird per feeder. If many of your birds share a feeder, they are likely a species that goes south for the Winter to tropical climes. Some believe those birds share because there’s so much food in their southern habitats there’s no need to fight.
People new to birding: If you have hummingbird feeders, please know that you have to sterilize them constantly -- at least 3x a week in summertime. Once a week in wintertime. Otherwise, bacteria grows in them. This can be fatal to hummers. I question the wisdom of putting up a lot of feeders -- because you absolutely have to clean then. As was mentioned here, put up natural sources of nectar; even in wintertime you can put up Yuletide camellias or pineapple sage, for example, that bloom all through November.
I have pineapple sage that did great the past couple years but this year shortly after the flowers started blooming, they all died and fell off…and never grew back!? Any ideas on what caused this?
Listening to you talk about snag branches, and looking up to see my bully hanging out on a dead branch where he can see the feeder. 😂
Me too!!!! 🤣
It's really fascinating to watch. We have a male that will literally perch on the shepherd's pole we hang one of our feeders on and he constantly looking around for another to chase off LOL.
Seeing them fight in the air is interesting it's like a hummingbird tornado. They lock eyes and spin in a circler motion flying straight up then dart off.
I have one too! He’s perched on the hook just glowering and fending off any bird who gets close.
Yes! I have a video of them doing that (slow motion) . Not uploaded to YT but in my personal home videos.
@@ms.anonymousinformer242 You should post.
Great info. Thanks. I put out a feeder yesterday and right away noticed one bird fighting off any other one that tried to take a drink. I guess I’ll add some more feeders.
Me and my husband have five hummingbird feeders. We're originally both from North Carolina. But we moved to South Carolina a little over two and a half years ago and every since we moved into our home we seen the hummingbirds so we put up hummingbird feeders.. Late February mid-march every year like clockwork. But this year the main female and the main male that would be territorial over the feeders. Arrived late this year so I had about 7 hummingbird that just popped up. Okay well I keep my feeders changed we make homemade nectar they like that better than the store bought. But nevertheless there is a tree that this particular male hummingbird sits in. off to the side of my yard that I knew for sure when the one male hummingbird arrived he always sits in that tree. He will stare at all the feeders and every now and then he'll let the hummingbirds get a little bit of sugar water but if he feels like they're there too long he'll start attacking them. even though it's supposed to be a territorial thing. most of them are females that come. But nevertheless I have plenty of features put up . And he acts like he just wants to be the only one eating off of all five fingers . I watched this video and maybe it can teach me something to do a little different. But I think they are so beautiful. Thanks for your video.
I also have two hummingbird feeders in my yard. There is an aggressive male here too. However, my feeders are far enough apart that they barely run into one another. All this talk about viciousness among hummers, is never mentioned on specials or documentaries. These hummers are treated with reverence as the jewels of the sky. And they are. I’ve been entertained all summer.
This year, their is a male "chad" Hummingbird who has domination over 5 feeders. Though, they are all on the back porch so fairly close together. He spends much of his time living the life and just perches on the porch less than a foot from a feeder all day. I might be able to do something by spreading the feeders out a bit more.
It usually helps. Just because they struggle to get from one feeder to another despite their best efforts 😂😂
Anna’s hummingbirds are the most common in my area. I feed all year 365 days, they do not leave even in 4* f a few weeks ago. We revived 1 and another that was outside frozen to the feeder, we brought inside. To warm up. Feed I bought a heated feeder.
It seems like humming birds tricked you in to give more food out 🤔
Haha not really. More feeders spaced out further=more birds for me to watch so the birds and I both win 😁
You've relieved a lot of stress for me. I thought it was something I was doing wrong. I've seen photos of 20 or more hummingbirds all gathered around a circle of feeders seemingly happy as can be. I have three feeders right now. I guess I'll get more. Thanks..
That’s also different for different locations. Rock wall Texas is a big pit stop for the birds so those picture of 20+ at a feeder are from places with high concentration. I at most have 5-6 at a time and usually not that many
Thank you for making this video. I’ve been watching and feeding My Hummies for going on 4 years now; this year, we have a bully - (quite a chubby bully at that!) 😉 He has appointed himself the King of our yard! I have four feeders up and he tries to take ownership of every one of them!
Well, after watching your very helpful video, I’m going to put what I’ve learned to use - immediately!
I’ll let you know how it goes.
Thank you!
Please do! Would love to hear it!
@@TheMoreYouGrow it’s been a success! I now have 8 feeders up and no more Bully! (Well, for now!) I don’t think he knows what hit him - he tried darting after the many Hummies that now, happily feed and get their fill, but finally gave up and relinquished his self-appointed authority! My front, back and side yards are quite busy spots now, with various species of beautiful Hummingbirds! Thank you for your very enlightening video. Happy Humming!! 🌷
Thank you so much , I'm new to feeding hummingbirds, and so far only have 1 feeder and I have a Bully young male and like 7 or 8 hummingbirds comming to this 1 feeder and he chases every one off every day, I'm gonna get more for sure.i feel so bad for the others that he does this.i will definitely take your suggestions and keep watching. 🥰 I love to watch them especially when doing my dishes, feeder is hung outside my kitchen window.They are beautiful
We went from 4 to 9 feeders over three neighbors yards and everyone is getting along better then last year we had about 16 last year and some of them would sit and watch one feeder and be a butthead .
“Butthead” Bahahahahahahahahaha
Dude; I have just as many aggressive females as I have aggressive males. Get over your sexism already... - waw -
I've got two feeders coming down from my overhang, one with a perch and one without, I just spaced them out further to try to mitigate my bully boy. Great video
Have had trouble in the past with aggressive hummingbirds. I usually space the feeders about 15 feet apart, 4 of them. Seems to do the trick, however, sometimes a hyper aggressive bird will manage to run others off of 2 or three feeders. You mentioned Turks Cap as a natural food source. I agree, the humming birds really go for them, but that plant is a growth monster. You have to have a good amount of room for it. I finally got sick of pruning it back, up to 6 times per year and removed them. I need another natural source that doesn't take over the yard. Thanks for the video.
Liatris would be a good one that won’t take over your yard.
When I go out to feed my animals, I make sure all the bird feeders have plenty of food in them. I'm there for an hour and a half usually. Approximately 15 minutes of that time is preparing grain for my horse and donkey. Another 10 mins is spent watering my watermelon. The rest of the time is spent filling 3 squirrel proof feeders and cleaning and refilling 3 hummingbird feeders as needed. Then I sit in my lawn chair and watch all the birds while I wait for my animals to finish. I said all that to explain that the majority of my time I'm watching the hummers. I have seen one gorgeous male hummer (ruby throated). The rest are aggressive little females. Evidently he had been a very busy boy. But those little females only share a feeder at the end of the day and early morning. Otherwise they are chasing each other off the feeders.
Thank you so much for this super informative video! It explained a lot. I have 2 feeders now which has been more beneficial than the one in keeping the bully at bay…at least somewhat. ❤️
LOL you just explained everything I've been observing in a new home. I bought a second feeder today and now seeing this video. Appreciate the info! I definitely have a male with a favorite branch--- however this one is just out of reach, to break off haha!
Tie a rock or something with a little weight to a rope and throw it up around the branch then grab both of ends and try to break the branch if it’s a small enough to break by pulling. Just an idea.
Buy four more feeders. 2 is good but and not enough. The more the merrier. You'll have more birds and less reason for them to defend territory
The more feeders you have the more hummingbirds you will get!
Today witnessed cute little angry guy flying straight up to the sky and then, sioer fast with loud wistle-like noise he was flying super close to another one sitting on the branch close to a feeder. He did that about 5 times until the other one just left. Serched youtube and your video explained it well 😊 Did not know they are THAT territorial 🤔 Also buying few more feeders 🤗
I have an aggressive female that is guarding my cluster of feeders! She just started!
BTW the bird perching on your "snag branch" is female!... - waw -
once I started hanging out on patio close to feeder , making sure they recognize me as the source of that daily refill of filtered sugar water that are all friendly to me . I felt like the one sitting on my feeder hanger was just telling me
" yeah I'm comfortable enough to sit with you " any and all animals even fish will respond to food love
same here
Yep same here. When its feeder refill time , they start flying around looking for it and if they see me they fly over to where I am , or at the window to watch me.
SAME!! I have a Cherry Tomato 🍅 vine near on of my feeder's. I was on a step stool picking tomatoes & a Hummingbird landed on my right shoulder. He definitely recognized I was supplying it with food! He wasn't afraid at all😊
I have a bully that will fly other hummingbirds straight to the ground. They keep coming back and this one will just beat them up :(
Never thought I’d say it but I want it to go away.
I find the title of the video a little weird when I look at my backyard. My female Anna's Hummingbird is the big boss, and she runs everyone else off, male or female.
I have about 10-12 hummingbirds & 6 feeders… seems to me as I sit on my porch watching, that they are all fighting & not just one bully.
Thanks for the advice. I just filled all 4 feeders. I don't have time to move them closer together right now but I will later today.
Just to clarify, it’s best if you move them farther apart. So they can’t all be guarded by one hummingbird.
Thanks for for your help and advice thank you .
I planted several honeysuckle vines, but it didn't help much.
I have about eight of them I have nine feeder. I have a new one this year he is green and white and has red under his neck. L just love them
Here in Brazil the most popular hummingbirds living in urban areas is the "Beija-flor tesoura" (Swallow tailed hummingbird) but with 5 feeders on my yard the "Leader" still keep aggressive with another neighbor hummingbirds and another birds. This swallow tailed hummingbird is very angry.
They are very protective. Do you have a big yard?
Very helpful information! We have one bully bird on a snag branch which has a great
vantage point to the 2 feeders we have. We’re thinking of getting more and maybe
clipping off the branch…but maybe not! We enjoy watching him in action!😂
Thanks I found your method better compared to hummingbird spots method.
Great Video and Excellent tips for dealing with this Situation!!
Great ideas, thank you!!
Well presented young man. Off to watch another one of your videos. Take care from Ontario/Canada.
I have 8 feeders spread around my house on 2 sides. I have what i believe to be 1 extreme bully guarding them all. He sits in a pine tree where he can observe them all and ruthlessly attacks any that come near. i didn't mind in the summer when there was plenty of food sources for the others around but now there is snow on the ground and he wont allow any others to feed.Now there is snow on the ground and he is super aggressive with other hummers and i worry they will starve in this freezing weather. I go out in the morning and remove the snow and defrost the feeders. At times i have seen as many as 6 at a time but as soon as 1 lands on a feeder he attacks and drives them away. nothing funny about him
I know exactly how you feel so so sad but also so so mad at the bully. It is very frustrating and you feel like you’ve lost control.
I know exactly how you feel so so sad but also so so mad at the bully. It is very frustrating and you feel like you’ve lost control.
Oh my goodness Everything you said to a t is what's going on in my yard He does have a dead branch or however you worded it but it's really high at the very top of my very large lemon tree I can't reach it. I was wondering though Can them mail actually hurt the other hummingbirds? Can he poke the other ones with his long beak and will he?
They could but more so they will try to body slam each other mid air and just try to be the biggest to where the other male flys away
you perceive aggression i ALSO see fun flight training and play. Stop projecting what we need to be in those that mirror our worst qualities
Thank you for this interesting perspective.
👍⭐ so true on everything he just said
Any suggestions on keeping bees and wasps out of feeders? Seem to find 10-20 dead bees in feeders, I hate that.
You can try making sure the feeders are in the shade. That can help.
Hate the thought of maintaining 4 or more feeders, but I got bully issues. Thinkin about making my own system using vinyl hose, with attractive piercings properly spaced along its length, and a single reservoir. Don't know zackly how to rig it yet, just thinkin out loud. Yes, I'm crazy.
You wouldn’t necessarily have to have 4, they’d just the number that worked in my yard, I feel ya though. That’s a good idea though! They make something similar to that that I’ve seen online but should be easy to make and they sell the feeder flowers pretty cheap 🤔. If I end up making one on the channel next year I’ll give ya credit 😜
I'm still waiting for some practical & workable inspiration from my "Inner Bean". lol. I was concerned that cheap enough plastic hose will taint the nectar, plus the distance apart really throws a wrench in the gears. As I write this it occurred to me to use rigid PVC or CPVC pipe instead, for the perch, mounting clips and all. Perhaps such a "Linear feeder" could be mounted on a wrap around deck rail, or under soffit. Possibly even plumbed so reservoir is indoors. What about "Blinders" set up between...Hmmm...What if a single "possessed" feeder was covered, lampshade style, still allowing access from top and bottom, but makin it harder for the male to spot intruders and get to them? It would catch more wind for one...
@@TheMoreYouGrow How would you keep the inside of the hose clean and not grow mold?
I got an agressive one, it's been chasing out others. I removed that from that location and to another. I've placed two feeders close together. So far many have been feeding.
Are males the only territorial or can a female be territorial? How do you tell the male/female apart
Females can be aggressive if food is scarce but not as much as males. They are easy to tell apart. Like most birds the males have all the flashy colors and females are mostly grey.
I have four hummingbirds in San Antonio fighting over the feeder all the time.
I think all my hummingbirds are male LOL. I put up 2 feeders, I have about 5-6 hummingbirds going at each other WILD!! I mean, WILD! My cat can't keep up with their speed, going against each other. I will put up another feeder and get some plants. This is CRAZY. They are very aggressive
Thank you!
When there are a few birds drinking peacefully with each other, isn't that because they are from the same family?
Could be! Sometimes birds just coexist when food is abundant and they don’t feel the need to be overly territorial. You never know with these guys lol
It's called a 12 gauge.
Thanks so much! Very good advice! 🙂👍
They have to eat every 15 min.
I'm in Georgia. Do you think the humming birds will staying over the winter or they are going to leave and where will they go? Thank you for your information. You're the first to talk about bird agression! Thanks a lot
The birds even in Georgia will migrate before winter. The Georgia hummingbirds most often just fly over the Gulf of Mexico and over winter in central and South America
They are territorial. Not aggressive.
@@goatrock123 👍
Sorry. Got it now.
Thank u so much! I'm going to give it a go n see what happens. I'm also having to move the feeders now bc of bees! I've never had this problem before. Very frustrating for the birds n myself. It breaks my heart everytime they come to there regular spot. I have a big tree with snag branches where I could put the other feeder. The problem, it's right by all the other bird feeders. Maybe 15, 20 ft. away. Advise please🙏
I find that some times putting the feeder in the shade helps more for bees sometimes. Moving the feeder sometimes also helps because bees have a set location that the relay to the others of the feeder location and on top of that they mark it with pheromones so the others can find it. So for bees I would say wash the whole feeder really well (be sure to rinse well) and move the feeder location. Doesn’t always work but sometimes it does. I also just spray them with the water hose sprayer from a distance and if you make it annoying enough they will leave sometimes too. I don’t blast them or anything just enough they don’t want to just hang out. And if you want to try putting it by the tree just move the other bird feeder. Song birds really don’t care where their feeder is, they just go where the seed is lol
@@TheMoreYouGrow Thank you so much this information is so valuable to me! Thank you! I spent yesterday all freaked out over this.I hated disrupting the hummers lives, but they seem fine(knock on wood.) There isn't any fighting bc I moved them a little further a part. So, so far everything you've told me is all solid, quality, wonderful, advice!!! Thank you for helping me!!❤❤🤗🤗😊😊
Mee too I have hung 4 feeders and love to have their visits in my yard
Such blessings to see them so close to me
We have 6 fighting over 2 feeders. My God!
No sound.
We are having a bit of a cold snap in Portland right now, and all of a sudden an Anna's that has had no issue sharing 2 feeders in my backyard is now spending most of his waking hours chasing off another Anna's.
The little jerk. There's plenty for both, and the other one could use the calories at this time of year.
As a matter of fact, I really don't understand how these little Anna's survive overwintering this far north. Tough little buggers.
Great video everything you said is 100% what we are seein!
THANK YOU FOR POSTING THIS VIDEO 🙏 I HAVE TWO FEEDS AND MAYBE 3 BIRDS AND I LOVE WATCHING THE HUMMINGBIRDS 💓 IF I PUT OTHER FEEDERS OUT WHERE I CAN'T SEE THEM, AND I'M GLAD THERE'S MANY NATURAL FLOWERS THEY CAN DRINK🇺🇸😎
Very educational! Thank you 😊
What is the best distance for 4 feeders?
Not sure if there’s a set distance but the far enough it’s hard to guard them all at the same time
i read to reduce sugar content to make it less worthwhile to protect
I have added a little extra sugar and now have an aggressive female guarding my cluster of feeders, everyone has played nice all summer till she showed up! I think I'll cut back some and see if that helps!
@@JW24928 i made a new batch using nearly 40% sugar and now the hummingbirds are going crazy.
@@JW24928 lmao
Thanks, now I know what the problem is; my feeders are too close together.
Thanks for the tips. I removed his favorite branch, and it seems to be working… for now.
okay not trying to be a creeper or anything but you are too cute! Like in a best friend sort of way, who I would probably occasionally dote over . 🤭 Plus your voice is for lack of a better word, very "smooth". I easily could've watched 10 more minutes of you talking about hummingbirds 😄
Lol well this comment made my day 😂 I very much appreciate the compliments!
When I tried this I ended up with 4 male hummingbirds each guarding one feeder and Their only 20 feet apart is that too far
Could be. You never know with these guys lol just trial and error. I’d say move them closer. If they are all too busy chasing each other it gives the other less aggressive birds a chance while they are busy