Matilda the Hummingbird Built Her Nest Today!.....
Your Hummingbird Stories

We love hummingbird stories.
Since hummingbirds are faithful friends, returning to the same feeders year after year, many of us become attached.
We sometimes give them pet names.

Please remember that hummers are wild birds that need to live outside.
Some of us have a more scientific interest in the study of hummingbirds.
Others just love to watch.

Whatever your interest, we would all enjoy your stories.

Do you plant a hummingbird garden?
What flowers do your hummingbirds enjoy most?
Have you ever seen a hummingbird nest?

Fill out the Hummingbird Story Form below to submit your favorite Hummer Story.

Dev, The Hum that hates everything

by Norene Pierson
January 25,2026
(Galway, NY)

We live in Saratoga County, NY.

Every year on or about May 1st, I put out my hummingbird feeders.
Last year 2025, I put out one with a camera attached to it.

All the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds that return, each year, get along pretty well.
That was until Dev arrived.
You see, Dev will just sit there.
Might drink, might not drink.
He just waits with that mean face for other hummingbirds, chickadees anyone or anything near it, even squirrels.
Sits there looking.
He won't let another bird near it, he literally stares them down until they leave.
This bird has an attitude that is unbelievable.
And to add to it, if I am late and the feeder is empty he will knock three times on our picture window with a look of disgust on his little face.
You would not believe it until you witness it. True disgust.
I put up the camera just so my friends did not think I was wonky and could see the face.
It is not one of him knocking on our window, just sitting at the camera hum feeder doing his thing.
Oh and he hates when the camera clicks.

Last year was the first time he came.
Even though he chases all the other birds over to my neighbor's feeders, I hope Mother Nature looked after him and he made it.

Humming birds year round

by Debbie Massullo
January 23, 2026
(Coquitlam, British Columbia)

I have been feeding hummingbirds for about 5 years.

I live in Southern British Columbia.

Through the winter I bring in my feeder at night so it will be at room temperature by morning.

In the morning I make a fresh bit of nectar
6 tsp sugar to 2 tbsp of hot water.

I add this to my room temperature nectar which at that point is usually adding the infusion to about 1.5 cups of nectar that is already in the feeder.

When it is about 30 minutes before sunrise I activate one or two hand warmers depending on temperature and tape them to the bottom of my feeder to ensure they have warm nectar throughout the day.

They are generally waiting for me about 20 minutes before sunrise to bring out the feeder.

There is usually one waiting to buzz my head at that time.

I have a beautiful relationship with them.

I liken my brain to the way they move.

Zip here and zip there.

I heard I believe a very upset hummingbird this morning.

It was ticking as they do in communication but it was constant for about 2 minutes.

I do believe the bird was upset about something.

As I was listening to the sound it made, it occurred to me that their conversation almost sounded like a form of Morse code.

The Stranger

by Brenda
January 18, 2026
(Missouri)

We live in Central Missouri and have many Ruby Hummers that we enjoy feeding every year.

One year we decided to visit the west coast in September.

By now most of the birds had left for their summer home.

My daughter, who lives near us said she would watch the remaining feeder.

We arrived back home the second week in October.

The feeder was still up.

The next morning, I went out to take the feeder down to clean and put it away for next year.

Something went buzzing close to my head and I knew exactly what it was or thought I did.

What was that? I asked myself.

I watched the feeder and soon a small bird appeared.

Not a Ruby like we have here, but a beautiful little Rufous.

The weather was getting cold here and I found myself wishing the little guy would travel on.

I was wrapping the feeder in bubble wrap so it wouldn't freeze.

December came and it was even colder.

I wasn't sure what to do.

I knew the bird was from a higher climate and must have been lost but I didn't want to take his food away.

One night the temperature dropped even lower and I was concerned for the bird.

I went out back to check the feeder and the little guy was there.

He made a circle around me and flew.

I never saw him again but I have pictures of him at the feeder that I can enjoy.

Sometimes a stranger comes in a small package.

Needed to catch a breath on our deck…

by Patricia
January 17, 2026
(Nanoose Bay, Vancouver Island )

My husband was home and heard a sound at the window.

He checked outside to find this little one breathing quickly but otherwise still.

He was able to open the door keeping his distance to keep watch and keep the hummer safe.

We have Anna’s here on the west coast of British Columbia in Nanoose Bay on Vancouver Island all year long.

I had just cleaned 9 feeders so the birds were excited for a fresh supply of sugar water and the chase was on to drink at each feeder.

Full of energy so they’re racing and this one hit the window.

In just a few minutes, we were able without scaring the hummer to get these shots!

We cropped them.

These dear little warriors keep us entertained and we are always in awe of their beauty/color and many feathers!

God’s Little Angels

By Anonymous
January 16, 2026

I first saw a hummingbird one year when I stepped outside at dusk in late August.

The most beautiful hummingbird came for a drink from my pink hibiscus.

This started my obsession and of course I had to rush out the next day and get a couple feeders!

They came around more & more and my goal was to get one to feed from a hand feeder.

I patiently sat very still and quiet, and gradually moved my chair closer to the feeders until they were so comfortable around me, I could quietly stand right by the feeder.

One day a juvenile male finally trusted me enough, and came right to my hand for some nectar!

It was the thrill of a lifetime, to think I could gain his trust that he’d feed right from my hand.

I’ve been feeding them since 2021, but it hasn’t happened since.

I did have another very special connection with a female hummingbird and just called her “Mama Hummingbird”.

Sometimes if I went out in the backyard and called out to her.

She’d chirp and squeak in response to my voice, and would pop over and hover near me as if to say hello.

She was a trip and would guard “her” corner of the yard where I’d planted 3 honeysuckle vines and some bee balm.

Once when “Mama” had her back turned at the feeder, a male zipped in behind her to my Lantana to sneak some nectar.

She must’ve heard him though because she soon squawked very loudly and a fight ensued.

Vistor
by Bob
October 8, 2021
(Tyler, Texas)

I need to lead into this so that you know my Mom loved humming birds and I bought her feeders each Christmas. She died in January of 2019 having fought cancer for 2.5 years. She was 93. I was her sole care giver.

So about mid September of 2021 this ornate humming bird Flys down to eye level about 3 feet away and hovers facing me. I smiled and said " Oh...so you want me to get the feeders out!" And that day I pulled out the feeders from storage, looked up a homemade feeder mix, mixed it up and put out five feeders. That day 4 humming birds appeared darting, dodging and swooping around those feeders. The rocket man of birds. Many times I would be working near the feeders and I would heard the sonic fan of one close to my head just hovering watching me. Their wings move so fast you see the wings in both the up stroke and the down stroke with a blur in the middle. So tiny yet the energy of a nuclear device. And they travel similar routes that geese do for migration. Amazing.

October 3th of 2021 the feeders needed cleaning so I took down 3 to cleanup. I replaced the the last two with 2 I had cleaned and refilled. The next couple of days I was down to 2 humming birds the ornate one and one of the plainer looking birds. On the 7th the little ornate guy again flew up and hovered 2 feet facing me for 30 seconds. I got the intuitive feeling it was thanking me for the refill and to say good bye. I have not seen any humming birds as of the next day. Today is October 8th and my feeders will come down tomorrow.

Thank you for the display of acrobatics and your presence friend. Come back as I will be looking for you next year. And be reminded of my Mom's good heart.

HummingBird man
by Brad
March 7, 2020
(Peoria, IL)

Last spring I witnessed for the first time a mother bringing her baby to my feeder. Had to be the first time the baby fed from a feeder. Mother showed up and sat on top of shepards hook and i could hear it calling out. About 30 seconds later the baby showed up, smaller than my little finger. What a sight! It had to perch to drink couldnt hover and drink yet. In just a matter of a couple weeks it grew so much. I could tell it from the others by a small mark on its neck. Me and my wife watched it all summer and hope it returns this spring. That was awesome!!

Hummingbirds are a Godsend!
by Rafael
August 22, 2019
(Atlanta, GA U.S.A.)

I was over 30 years old and had never seen a hummingbird.

It had been a couple of years since I'd lost my 9 year old son. It was a bad day and I was out on my apartment deck, overwhelmed and consumed with grief. I couldn't find any comfort, so I asked God to show Himself to me, to let me know that He was with me and knew my pain.
I don't have any idea why, but the first thing that came to my mind was to ask God that if He was with me, to make a hummingbird appear.
I no sooner asked then I heard a loud buzzing sound. Never having seen or having heard a hummingbird, I thought it was a big bee. As I tried to swat the 'bee' away, I saw my first hummingbird, right in front of me. It just lingered for maybe 20 seconds before flying away.

Needless to say I completely broke down.

To this day it's my favorite bird, and as I write this now I can look at a window feeder from my bed and watch the hummingbirds come to feed.

I praise God for my small 'miracle', for His love and care and for dying for us.

Bee Balm hummer
by Adrianne Catchings
July 7, 2019
(Little Elm, Texas)

This is my second year planting flowers my hummers love. I have one male hummer and two females that come back from last year. On my patio I have feeders hanging and hibiscus and planted in the flower beds some hibiscus. I was out yesterday morning inspecting the plants and was walking to the patio where I have a bee balm plant blooming. (I stopped for a brief moment and thought I have not see a hummer feed from it yet) just a I stood there my male hummer came right in front of me just six inches from my face and started feeding on it with no fear at all. It was a really special moment, as if he was saying thanks for putting my favorite flower out for me to enjoy. These tiny birds are a true blessing from God.

My beautiful ladies
by Chuck
April 24, 2019
(Tom's River. NJ)

Thanks for your website. It's informative and I love the tracker. I didn't know a thing about Hummingbirds till 2 years ago when I saw one drinking nectar from my Rose of Sharon. I was amazed. She was a Ruby. Fast forward till now. I have 7 feeders and about 12 birds I can identify by their markings and colors. When I sit out back they will come within a foot of my hand. One will come close to perching on my hand but as of now she only hovers real close. I'm amazed at their territory behavior over food yet they always seem to share with the others when it comes down to it. Last year a mud wasp decided to light on a feeder while one of the ladies was consuming nectar. She grabbed it, snapped it in half and continued eating. I just happened to be video taping her in slow motion and caught it on video.

I'll sit out back for hours watching my girls, video taping them and doing stills with my Cannon camera.

IM 6-3 and 200 pounds With a shaved head and beard. I'm also a retired Law Enforcement officer with PTSD. My friends and girlfriend revoked my man card because I love these birds so much and spend so much time with them.lol. I don't care because these beautiful birds are amazing creatures that I can spend hours with and they don't talk back or give me a hard time like the aforementioned do. They leave me in amazement and wonder as to why God gave us such beautiful birds. I call them my ladies. They help me cope with the PTSD moreso than any therapist or medicine. The Hummingbirds and my Pit Bull out back with me always start my day off right and the PTSD symptoms are non existent during that time. Thanks again for your website.

Late migration
by Dan
April 4, 2018
(Colorado Springs, CO)

It was the third week of October 2018 in Colorado Springs. I hadn't seen any hummers around our house for several weeks. I had taken down most of the feeders for the season, but I had been too lazy to bring in two from the back yard. It was snowing outside and the temperature was about 20°F. I looked out our window into the backyard and I saw a little ball of puffed out feathers sitting on a feeder full of ice.

I immediately made some fresh nectar and put out a clean feeder, but by the time I put it up the little visitor was nowhere to be seen. I was devastated thinking of the poor hummer out in the cold that had come to my yard hoping for food, but finding nothing. Then, I had to immediately leave the house for several hours. I finally began to find some comfort in the idea that I had probably seen a different type of small bird that had just happened to perch on the feeder, and that I had imagined that it was a hummer.

When I got home the temperature I immediately looked out the window, and she was back! A little ball of feathers shivering in the feeder. I spent the evening rotating feeders to ensure that there was unfrozen nectar available. In the morning the temperature had dropped to 10°F, and I put out feeders with warm nectar before first light. I attached toe warmers to the bottom of the feeders to to help keep the nectar thawed. When morning light came, she was back. I continued to rotate the feeders as needed all day.

The weather continued to get warmer, and every day she seemed to act more like a happy hummer. Our little visitor stayed for about a week, and then she was gone.

I kept the feeders out until November.

This spring I built and tested 3 heated feeders. I'm ready for my late migrator this year.

Last sighting for me in Sept 23, 2013  
by Christine
(Albuquerque NM USA)

After another great season of hummingbird activity, I cleaned and put away my two feeders until next spring. There had not seemed to be any nectar gone for a few days and the nights had been chilly.

When I pulled into the driveway after work, late afternoon, the next day, a hummingbird hovered in front of my windshield as soon as I turned off the car. I counted to ten. Still there.

I opened the car door and stood up, the bird moved to hover at eye level. I counted to ten. Still there. Then I said,

"I thought you guys had already left. I'll make new nectar and put the feeders back up"

I counted to ten; the bird continued to hover. I did not know what else to say, except,

"Sorry about that..."

Then he was gone. After hanging the feeders, two hummingbirds came, one to each feeder. I left them to it in the still warm afternoon.

Where's benny
by Amanda

This winter I was so excited because I knew my best friend (Benny the hummingbird) was coming. Well in November I looked outside every single day,but still no Benny, November passed, no Benny. December came I put out lots of new plants my mom and i bought, I put out hummingbird feeders, nectar cups and 2 Hibiscus plants. December passed no Benny. when January came I began to worry, my friend said "Amanda your worrying as if Benny were a human maybe it was his time or he found a home full of plants with nectar don't worry maybe next year he'll come.

Hummer & Praying Mantis
by Pat Fash
(Dennison , IL) August 27, 2011 Illinois farm

Did you know that a Praying Mantis could catch & kill and hummingbird??

I sure didn't. We found a Mantis clinging to the top edge of our big feeder, and he was busy eating a hummer! Five days later, the Mantis was back on the feeder, but we killed it this time.

Sure sorry to lose one of our many hummers this way.

Tiny Costa Rican Hummingbird

I live in the costal Pacific Guanacaste area of Costa Rica.I have a hummingbird feeder on my front porch and usually enjoy my morning coffee watching the antics of a variety of species enjoying their breakfast.
I have a purple flowered plant growing approx 20 feet beyond my feeder. Those flowers attract a variety of butterflies and moths.
A few weeks ago I spotted an unusual visitor to those flowers. A closer inspection found that a tiny black and white(no colors) hummingbird was feeding on those flowers.He was approx 1 1/2 inches long (including his beak). At first I thought it was a black carpenter bee or maybe a hummingbird moth........but no it was a hummer ! I grabbed my video camera and captured some pretty good shots of it.
I have not yet found anyone who knows anything about him.
If anybody can help me identify this unusual little guy please let me know. In the mean time I will try and figure out how to download the movie.

Denis
by Denis Snider

(Ropesville, Texas 79358) 2009 we had spent a week at Ft. Davis in September.
We had several Hummers coming up to our feeder hung close to our motor home. On our last day there, I had put up everything getting ready to pullout to head for home.
I left the feeder to the very last. I finally brought it in and had left the door open while I emptied the feeder into the sink. I looked up and one of the Red Throats we had been feeding had came into the motor home hovering between the two driver seats. I started to walk toward him and talking to him. All of a sudden, he went out the door.
I thought we had seen the last of him. I went ahead started the motor and pulled forward to hook up the Jeep.
After it as done, I came in and washed my hands, got into the seat ready to get underway. When we started to move forward slowly, one of the Hummers started hovering again right in front of the windshield looking in as to say;
"WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING, STOP!!" He stayed there until we got to the highway. It made us sad and we wanted to unhook and stay another peaceful week.
Something we will never forget!! GOOD MEMORY

Paul Miller
by Paul Miller
(Vancouver, Washington, USA)

Backyard Anna's

This is the first full year we have put out hummingbird feeders in our Vancouver, Washington home and have named a few distinctively marked regulars in the mix of hummers we get year around here! To help our new backyard hummingbird decor theme, we've collected some hummingbird sun glass, wind ornaments, windchimes (the decoration bird being a huge crow-sized hummingbird which I painted in the native Anna's hummingbird pattern, and a colorful garden flag with what is supposed to be a Ruby Throated hummingbird sipping from a bunch of bright red flowers. Our backyard hummers entertain us by sometimes batting the ornaments around with their beaks and then watching them move. One bird even attacked the wind chimes "bird." repeatedly jamming its beak into the much bigger inanimate bird's neck. This particular bird is my favorite, a curious young Anna's male called "hummy." Hummy noticed my garden flag almost as soon as I put it out. He flew over to it and hovered in front about a foot in front of the flower-hummingbird illustration, eyeing, in turn, the "hummer" and then the flowers. Hummy moved laterally from one side of the flag to the other, left to right, as if he were near-sighted and reading the newspaper. I was in stitches suppressing laughter that would have scared the little bird away. After about twenty seconds of side to side hovering, Hummy satisfied himself the flag wasn't a meal or the bird on it a threat and zipped on to more real flowers.

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