The continuing saga of Hummers in NW Bellevue...



To recap: Last winter we had three resident male Anna's in the neighborhood,
one in our yard, and two in nearby yards that also had feeders out. They
each had territories staked out, and I was hoping to get some nesting
activity in the yard. To this end I set up five "Hummingbird Houses", and
waited... I have also been monitoring the sugar consumption from the feeders
around our house.



The sugar consumption climbed to a peak of about 25g/day in mid-February,
and then dropped off as the flowers started blooming. At this time there was
steady day-long traffic at the feeders. The low point in sugar consumption
was 12g/day in early-March, just before the Rufous arrived. By mid-March it
was at 21g/day, and now it is up to 24g/day.



What is really interesting is that there is almost no activity at the
feeders during the morning and afternoon. Yesterday I was up at 0400, and
did not see a single bird in the early morning. There is a single female
Anna's (who seems to be nesting in nearby trees) who stops by occasionally.
Then, at about 1730, the boys return. The Anna's come in first, then the
Rufous. A feeding and fighting frenzy starts up about 30 minutes before
sunset. At this time I estimate that there are about 20 Anna's and 4 Rufous
- but it is really hard to keep tabs on them. If my estimate is correct,
then they are each eating 1g of sugar in the evening.



So. I am curious as to where all the boys go during the day. There are very
few females here (and no activity at any of my Hummingbird Houses), so I
guess they head off to where the girls are. I have wandered around the area
(south of SR 520 and west of I 405) during the day, and have not heard any
males singing or doing dive displays. I also checked out the Yarrow Bay
wetlands (we are on the hill above Yarrow Bay, so I figured that the
wetlands area may be more sheltered and hence preferable for nesting), but
nothing there either.



Does anyone in the Bellevue / Kirkland area see males during the day? Where
are the females in the area nesting?



Dave Nuttall

Bellevue, WA

MailTo:dave_nuttall at yahoo.com