Has anyone experience with hummingbird feeders that attach to a window with suction cups?
It was an impulse purchase, and now I start to think it through. Would it be dangerous for the birds i.e. flying into the window?
I bought it so my mother can watch them from her chair but I don’t want the birds getting hurt.
they’ll maybe tap the window a couple of times … like a bee does when looking for flowers but they’ve mostly adjusted for windows … .
Doesn’t seem to be a problem as I have a hummingbird feeder within a foot of a window, I don’t recall a hummingbird ever hitting it, though other birds who are interested in the standard bird feeder 10 foot away does occasionally hit the window.
I have two that attach to the window, in addition to others. One hangs on a hook while the other is directly attached. They’ve been in use for a few years and I’ve never seen a problem.
I have a question/comment about hummingbird feeders. We love feeding birds and always have a couple of regular feeders out. I attempted to feed the hummingbirds one summer but it was kind of disastrous. The feeder attracted hornets instead of hummingbirds! We saw the birds a few times but the hornets took over. We finally took the feeder down. Does anyone have this issue?
That sounds like it would be a problem with the feeder design if the wasps can get to the food. Get one instead that has a longer tube so that the long beak of the bird can reach the food but the wasps won’t be able to.
I have one of those, but haven’t put it out yet.
Should work great! I don’t have one on my window but have seen many in use. (I’m sure there’s Youtube videos) Enjoy! (And remember to change the nectar frequently!)
Thanks for the replies. I’ll put it up tomorrow
I think they may sell “bee guards” as a separate piece you can add on - I do know I’ve seen feeders that advertise having such guards. Longer feeding tubes accomplish the same.
Had a feeder hanging right in front of a window for a couple of years with no safety problems. It was neat to see them so close - your mom will love it! so will you! - and in fact, one time I saw a teeeeeeny tiny feather drift off a hummer right in front of me. I ran outside in time to see where the tiny thing landed. Kept it for years, wish I hadn’t lost it. The feather was smaller than the tip of my pinky, and seemed utterly weightless.
Hell, go hang a 2nd feeder while you’re at it. Nobody in the history of humanity has ever said, “Man, I wish we had fewer birdfeeders around here.” Be sure to change the sugar water regularly, one part white table sugar to four parts water, and NO RED DYE it’s very bad for them.
These are the hanging feeders I use. I have two of them. I’ve found that the glass or plastic feeders with the vertical bottle always seem to empty them selves out in a day or so, leaving a mess on the ground underneath. I think the air in the bottle heats up in the sun and forces the nectar out the openings. Then at night it cools down and sucks air back in. Rinse and repeat.
The tray feeders have no such issues.
I have one like this mounted at eye level.
The only species we have here is the ruby throat. We had four hangers one year, and they still tried to kill each other. It was like a WW I aerial dog fight.
I’ll have to take a look at mine. At the time I purchased it, it was like all the others. But that was years ago. Thanks
I don’t want to be bothered with constantly preparing/changing sugar water solutions, so I grow flowering plants they like.
They especially are attracted to Salvias but many other nectar sources as well.
Hummingbirds are, as a general rule, jerks. The ruby-throated isn’t even the worst. The rufous hummingbird, which lives in western North America, has a reputation as being extremely aggressive, attacking larger species and even chipmunks.
What do they do when they capture a chipmunk? I was just reading about some songbird, English, I believe, that eats the brains of other birds and attacks and eats small mammals for their gray matter, particularly bats.
Heck, they attack me if I don’t replenish their feeder in time.
I’ve had them fly over and tell me to refill the feeder. No violence yet.
There was a bit of violence when a woman mixed four sugar to one water instead of one sugar to four water.