This is my first time I have had hummingbirds in my yard - I think the gladiolas attracted them, that is where I saw them first last week. Bought a feeder, now they are there every day and every evening - LOTS OF THEM! My boys absolutely love to watch them and they let us get really close to them! They have kind of a greenish color on their back.

Where do they live? I don't have any bird houses in my yard - yet, do they build nests or where do they 'sleep'?

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PattyM

Those are Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds. The females have white throats; the males have have irridescent red throats. They NEVER live in houses, they roost in trees. My weeping willow and Mulberry trees are popular roosting places for them. They will soon migrate to South America Crossing the width of the Gulf of Mexico, non-stop, in less than 24 hours. They stay about 5 feet above the waves as they fly. They should be all gone by the end of October. They return around the end of February in the extreme southern U.S. It is usually the males that return first. The males are usually the first to migrate south in Fall. They should arrive in North Dakota around the first to middle of May.

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A bird in the hand......can sometimes be a mess.

I've had some of the Hummingbirds roost in my Mulberry tree, but I've never noticed them in any of my other trees. Of course, since their nests are so small it might be hard to tell!

I'm not surprised, Deborah. You are on the west coast where there are dozens of species of hummers. Here in the east we have Ruby-Throateds ONLY (And you don't have those )

I imagine that what you have is a male Rufous Hummingbird. Do a Google Image Search on Rufous Hummingbirds to see if that is what he is.

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A bird in the hand......can sometimes be a mess.

Deborah, the Anna's Hummingbird is common in California and the males have the ruby throat. Anna's Hummingbird

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Rosie z7a

Happy to have helped, Deborah. Bookmark this website for future reference... Hummingbirds.Net There's all kinds of information there and some of the most gorgeous pictures!

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Rosie z7a