Month: December 2008

Categories
Hummingbird Feeders

The First Hummingbird Feeder

The first commercially-available hummingbird feeder was designed by Laurence J. Webster for his wife. The idea came about after he had read a 1928 National Geographic story about feeding hummingbirds  from small glass bottles. It was between 1929 and 1935 that Webster had his design produced by an MIT lab glassblower (possibly James Ryan). In 1947, National Geographic ran an article by Harold Edgerton about his newly-invented strobe flash, which included photos of hummingbirds at Webster’s feeder. Interest was aroused, but it was not until 1950 the Webster feeder was offered for sale by the Audubon Novelty Company of Medina, NY.
 

The Treat of Extinction

There are roughly between 330 and 340 species of hummingbirds. The exact number that is quoted will often depend on the source which you are consulting. It may shock you, as it did me, to learn that there are twenty-eight (28) species which are threatened with extinction. This is according to an analysis by Birdlife International.
Categories
Hummingbird Feeders

Provide Multiple Feeders

Those of us who enjoy attracting hummingbirds have probably witnessed what I’ll call "hummingbird wars.” There is always one hummingbird that thinks the feeder is theirs and tries their best to drive the other birds away. This is because hummingbirds are so extremely territorial and aggressive. The information below should help you with this problem.
 
The best way to prevent a single hummingbird from monopolizing your feeder is to have multiple feeders and place them out of view of each other around your backyard. Or you can group a bunch of feeders together so no one individual hummingbird can possibly defend them all.
 
You can also place your nectar feeders at varying heights. The different hummingbird species will favor and defend different hummingbird feeders that are at varying heights. Some hummingbird species like to feed at heights of 12 to 15 feet, while others typically feed on low growing flowers and will prefer feeders placed closer to the ground. Placing your feeders in at least 3 different heights will help to reduce aggression between hummingbirds.

What is a Lek?

A lek is when a bunch of male hummingbirds, as many as 100, will get together and sing for the females. If a female appears to be interested in a particular male then he will dance for her. If the female likes the dance preformed by the male then they will mate. 
 
The act of mating only last about four seconds! Isn’t that amazing? After mating, the birds will each go their own way. It is the female hummingbird bares the sole responsibility for building the nests and caring for the young birds once they are born. After mating, the male has no further responsibilities toward reproduction. The male is then off to find a new female with which to mate once again.