I traveled to Tucson last April to visit Paton Center for Hummingbirds and photographed a few species for the first time.  The Broad-billed hummingbird was one of my new favorites!

We regularly have Anna’s hummingbirds in our Seattle-area yard. The males can be quite feisty and territorial. One year, a male Anna’s chased all the other hummers away from the feeder. I had to put a feeder in the backyard and another one in the front. He couldn’t guard them both at once. :-)

I am from Europe so the only hummingbirds were a Ruby-throated in Central Park back in 2015 only for a few seconds and the Cuban Emerald Hummingbird & Bee Hummingbird in 2022. We watched those at nectar feeders in a private garden of a local older man. It was amazing to see how the birds approached the owner without hesitation but at the same time were cautious with us new unknown human beings at the beginning. Me and my wife can't wait to visit the western U.S. and Costa Rica to watch birds, especially targeting hummingbirds. Unfortunately there is no chance for the trips before 2026. I use this course for preparation & daydreaming.

I just returned from a trip to Panama where many different species of Hummingbirds reside.  Among them we saw the white necked Jacobin, and this green hermit with its white tail tips.     

We used to count on seeing Calliope Hummingbirds in the Robinson Canyon area near Ellensburg WA. They came back to the exact same bush. We haven't seen them in the past three years and wonder what happened.

I love to bring our little feeder on our Utah camping trips. This black-chinned hummingbird was feeding regularly when the feeder was suctioned to the window. I tried holding the feeder and he fed from my hand! I especially enjoyed seeing his gorgeous purple gorget!

I've been fortunate to encounter some hummingbird nests, including Black-chinned Hummingbirds nesting on a cactus in Arizona, and Oasis Hummingbirds in Chile.

Anna's Hummingbirds visit my back garden in Northern California. They are one of three species that I have observed here in San Francisco. The other species are Allen's Hummingbird (a regular summer visitor to the city), and Rufous Hummingbird, who pass through the city during spring migration.

In my research before moving to Ecuador, I was thrilled to discover that Ecuador has over 130 species of hummingbirds. One of my favorites so far is the Chestnut-breasted Coronet at Tapichalaca Reserve in Southern Ecuador. They were the most aggressive of the 4 species I saw and they put on quite a show at the feeder with aerial acrobatics. However, the Collared Inca was not easily intimidated.

Hi to all! We live between the salt marshes of San Francisco Bay and the oak woodlands of the Oakland hills. We have many Anna's hummingbird visitors to our garden; they especially enjoy the flowers of our Chiapas sage and California fuchsia. e

Last summer we had a Black-chinned Hummingbird build her nest on the end of a live oak branch less than 10 feet from our living room window. Initially we weren't sure what was happening, just noticed hummingbirds lingering around the same spot several days in a row. Then we noticed one was regularly returning to the same branch and building what we thought might be a nest. We observed the entire sequence from courtship behavior (though not realizing it at the time), through nest building, brooding, guarding, feeding and fledging. She laid two eggs. Once we observed a Cooper's hawk fly right up to the nest as we watched from the living room but he quickly left without incident! She had to chase off the Northern Cardinals from time to time. One night there was a ferocious rain storm with strong winds blowing the thin oak branch 4-6' up and down in the pouring rain. She was hunkered down in the nest but it seemed the tumultuous movement would certainly disrupted the nest and/or her and her eggs. Nightfall came and we had to wait till the morning to see that she had weathered the storm and remained nestled in her nest on the eggs! Eventually only one of the eggs hatched but she nurtured the baby until it fledged. It was a magical experience.

We have Calliope, Black-chinned and Rufus at our feeders at home just north of Spokane, Wa.  Sometimes there are as many as 7 or 8 flitting around.  The Rufus seems to be the most territorial and aggressive.  The male Rufus can dominate the feeders and chase all the rest off.  He only seems to hang around for a month or so, the the others are here for much of the spring and summer

Anna’s Hummingbird travels to central Oregon, arriving when the pine-needle penstemon, with its orange-red tubular flowers, begins to bloom in June.

Yes, we have several Hummingbirds in my area. They are all very active throughout the day even in the growing extreme temperatures here in AZ.

In Seattle, we seem to have a lot of Annas in the area. They are totally fearless dive bombers.

We see Anna's Hummingbirds only in our back yard, where we have a feeder. In 2023 I had a blast photographing a couple of pairs on the feeder and in flight. But 2024 is different. Here in Northern California we experienced several really heavy downpours, thunder and windstorms in the winter of 2023-24. Now we only see one or two males (the picture is one of them. The absence of females is worisome.  

Yes, I have seen hummingbirds.  I've seen the Ruby-throated; this is the one I'm most familiar with.  However, on trips to Colorado, I've seen Roufus, Broad-tailed, and Black-chinned.  I think I saw a Calliope in Washington, somewhere outside of Seattle.  I love them!

I have many many Ruby throated hummingbirds at my Coral honeysuckle and my nectar feeders in Southampton, NY.

frequent Black-chin Hummingbirds at my feeder; in Costa Rico in a mountain top store saw several species, all sizes, no clue to ID hence this course

Yes, I often see Allen's Hummingbird hovering around native plants.  Occasionally, I see Anna's Hummingbird, although mostly males.  It is always a treat to see the female Anna's.

Yes, I live in Central Florida. Starting in the end of March Ruby Throated Humminbirds return to my yard. I have two hummingbird feeders in my garden. I planted flowers specifically to attract them and enjoy watching them dart around  drinking from the feeders and flowers. They are amazing to watch and not afraid of me if I'm in the garden near the feeders. They hover watching me as if they are saying hello, then zip to the feeders. We get so much pleasure watching them!!

I have about 14 feeders out and I live near z Bolsa Chica Wetlands in CA. I get many Anna’ , Rufus, Calliope,and I have had a Costa.. I live on the 2nd floor and have a deck facing toward ocean(can’t see water)…I have potted plants but have really enjoyed figuring out the plants they like…they love salvia, some sage and anything with a funnel type flower! I try to keep a journal about when they come and go… I have at least 6 regulars, here all the time but in February and March I had 20/30 hummingbirds each day, especially at evening time..it is spectacular! The last 2 months it has been quiet with regulars but I know they will be back! I enjoyed the course!

The Ruby-throated Hummingbird is the primary species where I live, and I just had them return for this year on May 8. Within a couple of days, I noticed that a male and a female would both feed at either the same feeder or one on each of my two feeders, but another male would fly in and the two males would then engage in an aerial territory fight and chase each other away. For the last couple of days I have only observed one male coming to the feeders, but a female may still be around that I haven't noticed. I'm wondering if feeders in both the front and back yards would help support two male territories. Since they display such aggression, I wonder if resources within sight line of each other are enough to prompt aggression.

I have a friend who has two hummingbird feeders for their Ruby-Throated Hummingbird population. She finds that they tend to fight a lot over these feeders! I saw it myself too- they're very fast and beautiful. This course was really helpful in giving us an explanation as to why they do that! Does anyone know what we can do to try and relieve the territoriality of the birds? We just want everyone to get along and be peaceful, but it's understandable why they do what they do. We have two large feeders about 5 feet apart in length, I suggested maybe moving them farther apart by putting one further into the yard. We'll try anything, haha!