http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/l...211309.html?43

Neat. Simple, once you've read about how it goes togetherr that
is. Not sure if I'll make one, but I think my older son might, I've
printed a copy of this out for him. I'd like to hear if any of you make
one. I just wonder, if I wanted to design, then make, a hummingbird
feeder, would I have come up with something like this? Probably not, I
don't have an tequila bottles. LOL



JOAT
I do things I don't know how to do, so that I might learn how to do
them.
- Picasso

On Aug 5, 1:54 pm, (J T) wrote:
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/l...061501211309.h...

Neat. Simple, once you've read about how it goes togetherr that
is. Not sure if I'll make one, but I think my older son might, I've
printed a copy of this out for him. I'd like to hear if any of you make
one. I just wonder, if I wanted to design, then make, a hummingbird
feeder, would I have come up with something like this? Probably not, I
don't have an tequila bottles. LOL

BX cable end bushings come already drilled through, and might be
cheaper
than wire nuts. Red ones are less attractive to wasps than yellow
ones,
more attractive to hummers -- no need to add controversial red dye to
the nectar. CPCV (drinking water) pipe leaches fewer plasticizers
than
white PVC, which I'd be hesitant to use.

Design is virtually unlimited, given your imagination and the variety
of available
connectors. You could build a ring-shaped feeder as easily as a
straight
line "bar."

Sun, Aug 5, 2007, 1:05pm (EDT-3)
(Father*Haskell) doth sayeth:
snip CPCV (drinking water) pipe leaches fewer plasticizers than
white PVC, which I'd be hesitant to use.
Design is virtually unlimited, given your imagination and the variety of
available
connectors. You could build a ring-shaped feeder as easily as a straight
line "bar."

Going by what animals drink out of, and eat, without apparent harm,
I'm not sure if using PVC would matter or not. Still, if you'e buying
materials, instead of just using what's on hand, I'd say spring for
CPCV, can't hurt, might help.

Yeah, but the straight type would be easier, and faster, to clean
out. But like you say, once you'e got the idea, design IS virtually
unlimited. I'm picturing a "grid" of about 6 straight bars, with a
gallon jug as the feeder. Or, maybe a grid of 20' long pipes, fed by a
55 gallon drum. Or...



JOAT
I do things I don't know how to do, so that I might learn how to do
them.
- Picasso

(J T) writes:

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/l...211309.html?43

Hummingbirds are territorial, and will often chase other hummers away.
We only get one at a time.

Also - you need to clean the glass every 3 days. That glass will be a
pain to clean.

"Maxwell Lol" wrote in message
...
(J T) writes:

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/l...211309.html?43

Hummingbirds are territorial, and will often chase other hummers away.
We only get one at a time.

They are indeed territorial, but we consistently get a dozen of them at our
feeders. They chase each other around if more than one comes to feed at a
time, but that's not always the case. We consistently watch all of them at
the two feeders we have out.


Also - you need to clean the glass every 3 days. That glass will be a
pain to clean.

Hmmmm... I don't think my wife cleans the glass at all while the feeders are
out for the season. Maybe she does and I'm just not aware of it, but if she
does it certainly is not that frequently.

--

-Mike-

On Mon, 6 Aug 2007 07:47:38 -0400, Mike Marlow wrote:

"Maxwell Lol" wrote in message
...
(J T) writes:

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/l...211309.html?43

Hummingbirds are territorial, and will often chase other hummers away.
We only get one at a time.

They are indeed territorial, but we consistently get a dozen of them at our
feeders. They chase each other around if more than one comes to feed at a
time, but that's not always the case. We consistently watch all of them at
the two feeders we have out.

One male is guarding two feeders here in NJ. He sits in a nearby tree
where he can see both feeders. Any other males, including juveniles, get
chased off, sometimes before they can settle at the feeder. Seems
somewhat violent, too. Sometimes I can hear them collide, along with the
vocal chatter. He seems to let females feed at will, but once in a while
if a female is on the feeder for too long, he comes down and hovers in
front of her, amd assumes what I guess is a threatening posture - mouth
wide open. She usually gets the hint. If she doesn't, he whacks her just
as he does the males that don't move off of their own volition.

I'm not sure if the behavior is the same all day - we usually can only
watch the goings on during the late afternoon and evening.

It is interesting to look at the photos posted with the description of
that feeder. It looks to me like most of the birds (all that I can see
well enough) are female, or perhaps juvenile males. I can clearly see
only one male, in one of the photos.

--
Art Greenberg
artg at eclipse dot net

"Mike Marlow" writes:

Also - you need to clean the glass every 3 days. That glass will be a
pain to clean.

Hmmmm... I don't think my wife cleans the glass at all while the feeders are
out for the season. Maybe she does and I'm just not aware of it, but if she
does it certainly is not that frequently.

We get mold inside the feeder from the syrup. We also do NOT use the
"red" packaged syrup. We just use ssugar and water. (don't use
honey!) Hummers have very sensitive systems. Someone who banded one
said the bird peed red, from the food coloring in the syrup. It's not
good for them.

J T wrote:

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/l...211309.html?43

Neat. Simple, once you've read about how it goes togetherr that
is. Not sure if I'll make one, but I think my older son might, I've
printed a copy of this out for him. I'd like to hear if any of you make
one. I just wonder, if I wanted to design, then make, a hummingbird
feeder, would I have come up with something like this? Probably not, I
don't have an tequila bottles. LOL



JOAT
I do things I don't know how to do, so that I might learn how to do
them.
- Picasso

I guess we have other kinds of problems up here in the sticks: bears.
They do have a sweet tooth and will climb up on your deck and stand on a
chair to knock down feeder. My neighbor always brings the feeder
inside before nightfall. Hope he has a strong door.
twitch,
jo4hn

Mon, Aug 6, 2007, 4:20pm (EDT-3) (jo4hn) doth
sayeth:
I guess we have other kinds of problems up here in the sticks: bears.
snip

Mmmm, bear. A bit greasy, but good. Sounds like you've found a
great bait.



JOAT
I do things I don't know how to do, so that I might learn how to do
them.
- Picasso

J T wrote:

Mon, Aug 6, 2007, 4:20pm (EDT-3) (jo4hn) doth
sayeth:
I guess we have other kinds of problems up here in the sticks: bears.
snip

Mmmm, bear. A bit greasy, but good. Sounds like you've found a
great bait.



JOAT
I do things I don't know how to do, so that I might learn how to do
them.
- Picasso

Or the bear has...
j4

jo4hn wrote:


I guess we have other kinds of problems up here in the sticks: bears.
They do have a sweet tooth and will climb up on your deck and stand
on a chair to knock down feeder. My neighbor always brings the
feeder inside before nightfall. Hope he has a strong door.
twitch,

Your neighbor needs one of these:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...006-43,GGLJ:en