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Originally Posted by Sandy and Ed
When we had our summer home in Maine we had a flowering ground cover (Dilanthus ??? Aka Baths?) and a couple of humming bird feeders. We ALWAYS had a lot of hummingbirds on the property. They would be lined up on the service wire coming into the house. They would buzz past our heads as we sat on the front porch to get to feed. Miss that here. Our feeders produced nary one humming bird. Changed the nectar mixture many times but no results. Finally gave up.
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Hummers indeed are fascinating. We watched them for decades back in our south central Pennsylvania home. There are many articles that describe what to do and what to plant to attract them. Here is a typical article about them:
40 Hummingbirds Facts - How to Attract Hummingbirds
A tip we learned is to set up prior to the migration season to your area in the spring. Put up your feeder a few weeks before this date. Get details here from the migration data map. Enthusiasts report spottings as they move from Mexico. The males migrate first, usually with a weather front to help and establish territories which they return to seasonally. This is key to having them for the season. In south central PA this was aound the second weekend in May and return south in the second weekend in September for Ruby Throated birds. There may be non migrational other species in Florida.
Hummingbird species of the world, 2024 hummingbird migration map, sighting reports, hummingbird gardening, feeders, photographs, videos, bookstore, links, and resources
Start a feeder away from the house and move it up to a window slowly when you have hummers around. I suspect it may take time to establish territories in the villages since the habitat was disrupted by the construction.
Use regular sugar as the nectar, 1 part sugar to 3 parts water in a clean hummingbird feeder to attract and 1 to 4 when the birds are established.
It is harder to attract them after the territories are established but do not give up. Take down the feeder when the southern migration starts. Leaving it up longer does not keep them around, they leave when their migration instinct dictates the flight.
https://youtu.be/ith9X0Zmslc
Look for the White Hummingbirds near the end of the video.