Sometimes seeing is believing.  Yesterday I received a phone call from a homeowner in Corning, Ohio who told me that she and her mother had over 20+ hummingbirds coming to their feeders, and that during the morning and early evening they may have 40+ hummingbirds simultaneously visiting the six feeders they stock in their yard.

 

I drove over today to check this spectacle out and to see if I could learn a little bit about why this is such a well-visited feeder set-up.  

 

I arrived sometime after 11:00 a.m. and as soon as I got out of the car I could see quite a few hummingbirds visiting several of the feeders.  As the day progressed the scene began to resemble something out of Hitchcock's the 'Birds' (except with teeny tiny birds).  There were hummingbirds visiting the feeders, sitting on telephone wires, sitting on chain-link fences, perching on tree branches and in bushes.  In some cases there were as many as 8-10 birds simultaneously visiting each feeder.  There was easily 20+ birds in the immediate area, and the owners said that during the morning and evening feeding times they may easily get 40 or more birds visiting.  One of the ladies' husbands said that he counted 43 individuals at once.  They have chairs set up in their yard so that they can watch all the birds throughout the day, and that the birds fly within inches of them while the feeders are being filled (I came pretty close to getting in the forehead as one bird buzzed by).

 

I was told that they had been setting up hummingbird feeders every season for the past 15 years, and that the feeders were filled daily. Other than a couple of rose of Sharon bushes there weren't too many other flowering plants.  The owners previously had a trumpet-creeper that they had to trim this year and as a result it hadn't bloomed.  I asked them what concentration they made their hummingbird food and was told that it was mixed in a 1:2  ratio.

 

While I was there we talked a little bit about hummingbird identification, and they described seeing some birds with orange-ish coloring that they see occasionally visiting the feeders.  They typically take their feeders down at the end of August.  I've encouraged them to leave their feeders up a little longer this year to see what happens.

 

This is an impressive scene and the owners are very obliging and willing to host others who may want to visit their feeder set-up.  If you're interested in visiting these birds please contact me and I can provide you with the homeowner's contact information.  Corning is located within the boundaries of the Wayne National Forest, and is east of Lancaster, south of New Lexington, north of Nelsonville, and north west of Marietta.

 

I'm curious to find out if anyone else in Ohio hosts similar numbers of hummingbirds during the year, and if so what are their secrets to attracting so many.

 

You can check out a couple of the photos I took today while I was there by visiting: http://caseybirdphotos.blogspot.com/

 

Thanks & Happy Birding!

 

Casey Tucker

Education Specialist

Audubon At Home

Audubon Ohio