Yes!  I saw my first hummingbirds this summer at a public butterfly garden maintained by the Bergen County Audubon Society, and, inspired by them, I planted my own hummingbird garden in my yard.  So far I have seen a hummingbird on three separate visits to my cardinal flowers after only a few weeks!  I believe my hummingbird is a female Ruby-throated.

I have seen many hummingbirds in the places I've lived and visited, mostly near gardens or feeders. But the most enchanting sightings have been when I am backpacking, sitting at the top of a mountain pass, when suddenly I get investigated by a hummingbird! I have been in the Sierras, on top of Pinchot and Mather passes, and had hummingbirds close up, checking me out eye to eye. I recently was in the Bob Marshall Wilderness near the Chinese Wall, and a hummingbird visited our group of three while we were having dinner, flying right into the circle and looking at us each in turn. These were all such a surprise! Such odd behavior checking out the humans.

Here in the Sonoran Desert (Southern Arizona), I've seen mostly Anna's, Allen's, Costas and Broadbills (photo) at my feeders. Recently, several aggressive Rufous have laid claim to my primary feeder. So far, they've been too fast to photograph. They attempt to intimidate the others, but many are brave enough to fight back or simply sit in the nearby trees until the bullies leave.  Enjoying this course!

A few years ago my wife and I took a bird tour to Cuba.  We were lucky enough to see several hummers including the Bee Hummingbird, which was our grail bird for the trip.

I live in the SF Bay area.  We commonly have Ann'a at our feeder's and occasionally see Allen's and Rufous in the area.  Recently saw Rufous in Alaska.  My first experience with a hummingbird was at a friend's house in La Jolla, near San Diego., let alone differentiate  We were able to corral it and get it outside unharmed.  This was long ago and none of us even knew about different species.

 

A number of years ago my wife and I were at a desert zoo near Palm Springs.  My wife was wearing a bright red shirt with a flower print. Not sure of the species but i think it was a Costa's.  It approached my wife's shirt as if to feed at the flowers but it realized its mistake and buzzed off.

I live in Australia.  We have all manner of gorgeous birds, but sadly, no little hummers. When I visited Vancouver and the Rockies a couple of years ago, I was enchanted to see them for the first time. They were visiting a brightly coloured feeder hanging outside the restaurant where we were having lunch. We became the entertainment as we expressed our delight!

I live in NW Montana.  The rufous control most of the feeders but calliope and black-chinned make an occasional appearance.

I have one male rufous who has a favorite perch on a tree high up where he can keep an eye on his area.  He even gets upset when other birds (especially juveniles) just stop by to perch.  The young birds don't know why this hummingbird is so upset.  It's quite funny to watch.

The ruby throated hummingbird visits my blueberry bushes here in New York State.  I don't put out feeders because of the bear.

Living in Minnesota, I generally see only ruby-throated hummingbirds, but watching their acrobatics and battles is always a delight. Once on a trip to Arizona, I was lucky enough to see a male Anna's hummingbird performing his dive/"chip" display. And many years ago, I traveled to Costa Rica and saw ten species of hummingbirds, including the purple-throated mountain-gem, green-breasted mango, white-necked jacobin and the stunning violet sabrewing. To think that there are over three hundred species out there! I hope there are many more hummingbirds in my future.

This is my "resident" Ruby-Throated hummingbird, who visits the backyard every year.  I call him "Monsieur" -something about his colorful elegance brings up the nickname in my mind!-, but I know there is more than one, and can sometimes recognize a "Madame", with no red gorget.  Probably the case in this photo.

Their presence in our garden is so joyful, and we enjoy seeing them visiting the feeders, perching in nearby branches, or chasing each other.

Once I was witness to a courtship dance, which was amazing.  I'm very proud of my summer visitors!

 

I live in wine country near Niagara Falls Ontario and it is only in the last couple of years that my wife and I became interested in hummingbirds.We no longer have a garden but we have balcony.Flowers and a couple of feeders soon brought them around.Their evening feeding time coincides with ours so we often sit with our field glasses and get a front row seat.I understand these will be Ruby Throated hummingbirds.Supper often goes cold.Wonderfull to watch.

 

I live in Valle de Bravo in the state of Mexico. There is many species of humingbirds in these mountains. Most of my encounters with these wonderful creatures have been with the species Basilinna leucotis, the white eared hummingbird. They come arround often to feed on the many flowers in the garden and it is lovely to see them. Tino(my dog) is trained to leave the birds alone and he loves to go birdwatching with me.

I have seen the Broad-billed, Glittering Throat in the Emerald category , also the Rufous and Anna Hummingbirds in the Bee category.  So beautiful.  I am unable to find the pictures taken of these Hummingbirds in San Bernardino County California.  The pictures were taken at a backyard feeder.

Thank you for the presentation on the iridescence.                              Ruth Bates

I have to say that I own the Princeton guide to Hummingbird so I am familiar with many of the topics covered in the first part of this course. But having an animated explanation of how iridescence works is extremely useful. It works better, I think, than static images on a page. It also helps explain why some hummers are just so vivid, amazing!

On the East Coast only the Ruby Throated Hummingbirds come and visit my garden and my feeder.  However, when we winter on the Pacific Coast we often see Anna's and an occasional Rufus or Allen passes through.  I would love to see a Calliope.

I think a little Anna's just came to inspect me as I sit here in my garden watching this course in Los Angeles, CA.

In Colombia, where I live, every morning I hear the sound of fighting rufous tailed hummingbirds and black throated mangos as I eat breakfast. I also have had the chance to see rufous breasted hermits, white necked jacobins, sparkling violetears, indigo capped hummingbirds, pale bellied hermits, and a bird I think was the black inca.

I live in Woodbine Georgia where there are ruby throated hummers!  They come to my feeders by the windows each morning to say hello and drink the sugar water I make for them.  I have "Mexican Cigar plants" (Cuphea) under the window for tasting, too.

I live in Bethlehem, Pa where my husband and I are enjoying daily sightings of the Ruby Throated Hummingbird.  This year I added another hummingbird feeder (makes 2) and a plant, called Honeybells, in a hanging planter.  This is my first time watching the hummingbird move from flower to flower searching for the nectar.  I see this quite often but continue to be amazed when it is sighted on the plant or drinking from the hummingbird feeders.  It never gets old! :)

I live in Mid-Michigan and we get the Ruby Throated Hummingbird here. I love the way they zip by you and impatiently wait for the feeder to be filled. I have a male that loves to hang out and sleep on the fence around the dog yard. I would love a trip to an area of South America where I could see several species.

I live in Holland, so we don't have any hummingbirds. Last year my wife and me went for a trip to Costa Rica. When we saw our first hummingbird we were completely hooked! It was a Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, in fact the most common species in CR. It flew very fast and before you could realise it was gone. There were some Verbenas, plants who attract a lot of hummers. Every now and then the birds were not flying, so we could observe them quite well. Later on we saw several species of hummingbird, such as the White-necked Jacobin, the Scaly-breasted Hummingbird and the Band-tailed Barbthroat. Magnificent to watch all these colorful gems at very close range. When we got into the mountains we watched also the Talamanca Hummingbird and the Vulcano Hummingbird. The last one was nearly blown out of the sky by a harsh wind and a shower. So the bird landed, just in front of me. That was an amazing, close encounter. We also tried to find and to watch the Snowcap, but we did not succeed. So we have to go back once!

I live in the South Puget Sound of Washington State and here we have the Anna and the Rufous! I'm lucky enough to have the company of the Anna Hummingbird year round and the Rufous during the summer months. We have witnessed several mating ceremonies and get dive bombed quite often when things get fired up between those lil birds. It's not uncommon for the Female Anna Hummingbirds to sit on my garden gate and watch me inquisitively as I go about my business. We provide several "strategically" placed feeders (that get cleaned regularly & have homemade sugar water) to try to make everyone happy. We also plant as many native flowers as possible and we sure do appreciate how those lil pollinators help out our garden! Originally from the Northeast I am familiar with the Ruby throated hummingbird as well.

Hummingbirds (Ruby throated) visit our garden here in southern Ontario daily - they seem to love the Monarda and Crocosmia. The females tend to stay longer, visiting a few areas of the garden and perching on adjacent tree limbs, while the male zips in and away very quickly. Love them!

I live in England, no hummingbirds here, but I have been lucky to visit Costa Rica, Brazil and Colombia where I have seen many hummingbirds. The first time I saw one-  in Costa Rica - I thought it was an insect flying past me. I love  all birds, and many visit my back garden, but I really am fascinated by hummingbirds - amazing birds. I have hummingbirds on my curtains to remind me of them.

I have only seen ruby throated hummingbirds, here in Ohio. Once when visiting Mackinac Island, MI, I came upon a field of jewelweed. I stopped to pop a couple of seed pods and then I heard a buzzing. Dozens and dozens of hummingbirds! It was fantastic. I hope to travel to South America to discover more species.