One H'bird taking over..

For the last several years, and this year is showing the same trend, a female has claimed my feeder as her own and chases others away as soon as they approach. Consequently, I rarely get shots of the males after the first couple of weeks. I'm referring to my Illinois location and Ruby throats. Any thoughts on combating this situation? Thank you.

ardeekay wrote in post #16901695
For the last several years, and this year is showing the same trend, a female has claimed my feeder as her own and chases others away as soon as they approach. Consequently, I rarely get shots of the males after the first couple of weeks. I'm referring to my Illinois location and Ruby throats. Any thoughts on combating this situation? Thank you.

Put up a second feeder outside the line of sight from the first one.

OhLook wrote in post #16901705
Put up a second feeder outside the line of sight from the first one.

Thank you, OL. Have you experienced this? Wondering if a 2nd bullish female would come in. Also, thinking about my own specific layout, if a 2nd feeder was placed about 50' away but still basically in sight, would #1 female guard both? Guess I'll give that a try and answer my own 2nd question.

I have a feeder on both sides of my house. If one bird gets pushed away, they fly up over the roof to get to the other feeder.

A few people I know have several feeders up, due to the territorial nature of hummingbirds. In fact, the people with the most hummingbirds (by a long shot) have about 15 or 20 feeders up, all around their house and garage. There is no way a hummer can defend all of those feeders from other hummers, so they don't even try. At any given time there are as few as one or two hummers using the feeders, to as many as a dozen. Neighbors in the same area who have only one or two feeders only get one bird at a time, at best.

ardeekay wrote in post #16901800
Thank you, OL. Have you experienced this?

No, the hummers aren't so numerous here that I've witnessed any territorial squabbling. My suggestion was based on other species' behavior. Spacing out the food makes it harder for an individual to dominate all the feeding stations.

SJC from VT wrote in post #16902812
I have a feeder on both sides of my house. If one bird gets pushed away, they fly up over the roof to get to the other feeder.

Tom Reichner wrote in post #16902857
A few people I know have several feeders up, due to the territorial nature of hummingbirds. In fact, the people with the most hummingbirds (by a long shot) have about 15 or 20 feeders up, all around their house and garage. There is no way a hummer can defend all of those feeders from other hummers, so they don't even try. At any given time there are as few as one or two hummers using the feeders, to as many as a dozen. Neighbors in the same area who have only one or two feeders only get one bird at a time, at best.

OhLook wrote in post #16902997
No, the hummers aren't so numerous here that I've witnessed any territorial squabbling. My suggestion was based on other species' behavior. Spacing out the food makes it harder for an individual to dominate all the feeding stations.

Thank you all-I appreciate you taking the time to reply. Going to put up a 2nd feeder and possibly a 3rd, but that's it. Not the #1 priority in my life-at least I try to tell my wife that. Want to keep everything in view from our sunroom so we can enjoy the show. And yes, snap a few pictures.

Your experience is much like my own Rog, but I wanted to add my voice too.
Right now I have a male or at most 2 males frequenting my back deck where I've got 1 feeder out and multiple species of Salvia in containers. I expect later in the year to be "taken over" by females claiming territory. Since April 13th when I first saw them, I've only had one female come to the feeder....maybe I'm lucky. I think the females are busy with nesting behaviors for now, but experience tells me that come July 1st I'd best be ready for nesting to be over.
As the summer progresses, I normally expand to 3 feeders out in my backyard separated by 50ish feet or so. Still a lot of squabbling females/juvis, but I think everybody gets at least something to eat. On an aside, the Mom of a girl I used to date has so many hummers that they don't fight. If I saw that phenomenon I'm pretty sure I'd think I died and went to heaven

I had 2 feeders up. One outside the dining room, the other outside the living room. The windows were aligned so a male would sit on one feeder and watch the other feeder through the 2 aligned windows. I had to move one of the feeders so that both feeders weren't being dominated by the one bird.
Put up a second feeder, make sure that both can't be seen from 1 spot.

CamFan01 wrote in post #16903976
Your experience is much like my own Rog, but I wanted to add my voice too.
Right now I have a male or at most 2 males frequenting my back deck where I've got 1 feeder out and multiple species of Salvia in containers. I expect later in the year to be "taken over" by females claiming territory. Since April 13th when I first saw them, I've only had one female come to the feeder....maybe I'm lucky. I think the females are busy with nesting behaviors for now, but experience tells me that come July 1st I'd best be ready for nesting to be over.
As the summer progresses, I normally expand to 3 feeders out in my backyard separated by 50ish feet or so. Still a lot of squabbling females/juvis, but I think everybody gets at least something to eat. On an aside, the Mom of a girl I used to date has so many hummers that they don't fight. If I saw that phenomenon I'm pretty sure I'd think I died and went to heaven

Interesting, Steve. I'm, of course, further north than you, but I haven't seen a male for several days now. Female visits are almost up to mid-season level. Now just before dark, frequency is high and some might be males then, but it's too dark to tell. And this seems to be the pattern. I put a second out this afternoon, but it is in sight of the first. Try it for a few days to see what happens. Post some male shots so I remember what they look like R

jmckayak wrote in post #16904163
I had 2 feeders up. One outside the dining room, the other outside the living room. The windows were aligned so a male would sit on one feeder and watch the other feeder through the 2 aligned windows. I had to move one of the feeders so that both feeders weren't being dominated by the one bird.
Put up a second feeder, make sure that both can't be seen from 1 spot.

Thanks, jmc. Right now I'm breaking that rule-the 2nd I put up this pm is in sight of the first. But I just now got an idea to correct that! Well, not quite. Got to think about it some more. Anyway, working on it.

The worst thing about multiple feeders is trying to keep them clean. Not my favorite job. And yes Rog, lets try to take a few pictures...what a challenge!

SJC from VT wrote in post #16904618
The worst thing about multiple feeders is trying to keep them clean. Not my favorite job. And yes Rog, lets try to take a few pictures...what a challenge!

Sandy, to be completely honest, I don't obsess w/ the "clean" part. When I refill, I rinse thoroughly w/ hot tap water and refill. Calling that clean. Hope I'm not committing a cardinal sin here.

The first Hummingbirds arrived here about 2 weeks ago so I put up one feeder with a small amount of food. This feeder is located within 3 feet of a window in my house and a flowering shrub about 10 feet tall is also within 3 feet of the feeder. A male was the first to use the feeder and then more birds came until there were probably 6 or 8. They began fighting and seem to use the shrub as a perch to guard the feeder, in my case it has always been a male that stands guard and will fight anything that comes near. I then put up another feeder about 50 feet away and will add another a week or so from now.

I will eventually place one in my front yard that stands alone away from other perches so they have to fly in, feed and fly away at least for some distance. When I have 3 or more feeders going I never fill them full and replenish the feed often so it stays fresh and clean. This seems to work for me but they do still fight almost constantly. It also seems their fighting over territory/feeders is worse during the early morning hours and late evening.
My Mom feeds them at her farm near mine and they often will perch and feed with as many as 6 birds at one time, this never seems to happen for me. I have always thought it is a good thing these birds are so small with the attitude they seem to have. Now my goal is to get some good shots of these little guys this summer.

ardeekay wrote in post #16905001
Sandy, to be completely honest, I don't obsess w/ the "clean" part. When I refill, I rinse thoroughly w/ hot tap water and refill. Calling that clean. Hope I'm not committing a cardinal sin here.

My feeders are in full sun and quickly get moldy, so I have to use a baby bottle brush to clean the sides. The birds stop using the feeders if they get too bad. I never fill my feeders completely, it's just a waste of sugar.

I've seen it before, but again last night I had a Chickadee drinking from the hummingbird feeder. Sometimes the feeders leak, and the other birds position themselves to drink the droplets as they collect under the feeder. Quite comical!