Every year we mark the beginning of our growing season by the return of hummingbirds to our backyards. The males battle it out over who has control over the two hummingbird feeders, and over the next 4-5 months I provide the “never-ending supply” of sugar water (raw organic sugar, of course!), rarely letting it be empty for more than a couple hours. We also have lots of other flowers they can go to later on, but when they first arrived, we got a snow storm soon after!

The psychology behind their behavior is fascinating, with a male having a “harem” of females that he permits access to the feeder, shooing away any unwanted females and, of course, other males. The male hummers that visit us all make the characteristic high-pitched whistling sound when they fly; the females are silent except the beautiful sound of wings flapping at 50 times per second. There is a pair of hummers at each feeder at the moment; that will definitely change as repeat customers from previous years show up… they live 3-5 years, and with a never-ending supply of as much nectar as they want, this is probably as close to hummer-heaven as they can find.