Hello Tweeters,
I generally like to keep email responses in a chain/thread from the original email sender.
I find it much easier to follow then each person starting a new one.
Do others find the same?

I make the exception here because I found the Anna's threads in my junk file, which I check daily because I find some legitimate tweeters emails there.
I am very cautious about some emails from Tweeters, because of the inappropriate emails that began with the breach of Tweeters.
I get 3-6 each day and put them in trash and delete.

Now, my wife and I are big fans of hummingbirds.
In addition to the great observations and comments by others, there is another we have noted regarding food source guarding and number of them feeding in close proximity.

Sudden cold weather shifts and prolonged very low temperatures like we have had at times over the last year, appear to make the feeder guarding and chasing behavior much less frequent and often, if they do happen it is much slower and much less aggressive.
And last winter, during the several days of the coldest weather, we observed more hummingbirds on one of feeders than ever before.
Especially in the last 90 minutes before dark, up to 13-14 (8-10 more than the usual max) were side by side, close to touching and showed no signs of aggression.
It was almost like there was some primitive "let's all survive and we can dispute territory later" behavior.
Flights were half speed or less- it was like seeing them in a slow motion video-which was very neat to watch.
Or maybe they were just too chilled, with decreased metabolism and need to conserve energy for survival, to be aggressive. Or some or all of those and more.

We have an additional feeder nearby and another 40 feet away and around the corner of our house. We currently have no more Anna's than usual, around 3-5.

However, our most interesting sugar feeding station occurs each fall and never needs to be attended or refilled.

Each year a Red-breasted Sapsucker arrives and establishes sap wells between when the first leaves show signs of turning until about 90 % have fallen off our 45 year old Birch tree. The time range is about 5-7 weeks. Then the bird is gone.
Currently, at least one Anna's, four Black-capped Chickadees and one Ruby-crowned Kinglet are frequenting the "well-maintained" wells, some are on the top side of larger branches, in addition to those on the usual vertical trunk surfaces.
A group of 8-10 Bushtits are frequently in our yard and I always enjoy hearing them and watching them fly. This is the first year they have more than make a late afternoon visit to our suet feeders.

They make stops to the Birch tree,
As they move around the yard gleaning. I am interested to if they will use the sap wells. My speculation is no, but who knows?

Has anyone seen them feeding at sap wells?

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
Best regards,
Dan Reiff

Sent from my iPhone