[FullRangeMan]

Fantastic birds, all are impressively perfect.

[BobM]

those are great shots. Great capture

[SlushPuppy]

Great pictures guys 

[JRace]

Great shots!

For my shots I used a 300mm lens shot from roughly 8ft.
Shutter speed 1/300sec
F-5

How did you guys shoot yours?

[bside123]

bside123,

Is that a Morning Glory plant?  I have a fence full of trumpet vines (white with pale lavender)  that had a massive bloom this spring.  Not one hummer has ever been seen on them. Hummers do frequent my pine and cedar trees but not the vines.   

Hi Don,

It's not a flowering vine. Don't know what it is exactly, but I'll find out for you. This vine grew up the stand that holds the feeders. So... they will land on it. It looks more picturesque than the bird at the feeder.

[bside123]

Great shots!

For my shots I used a 300mm lens shot from roughly 8ft.
Shutter speed 1/300sec
F-5

How did you guys shoot yours?

Hi JRace:

I try to shoot very fast. With the occasional, rare exception, I'm using shutter speeds from 1/1000 - 1/2500.
I also like to use apertures starting at f/8 for moving birds, if at all possible. Fast shutter, small aperture = stop action & depth of field.

Since I generally photograph Hummingbirds in plenty of daylight, I'm not afraid to push the ISO to get these settings.
With a full frame camera, I'll often use ISO settings in the 1000 - 2000 range with very manageable noise that can be pretty much
handled in post production. In this way, I can shoot very fast speeds. I always shoot RAW.

I've used both 200mm & 300mm lenses. Handheld shots vary from 8' - 10' away. Be prepared to sit and wait for a long time and move slow.
With tripod shots, I use a remote and place the camera closer to their resting point.

If I get a good image, I'm also not afraid to do heavy cropping in post production in order to highlight the bird.

Hope this helps.




ISO 2000, 1/2500 sec, f/9, 210mm


Ruby Throated Hummingbird Feets

[Guy 13]

Hi JRace:

I try to shoot very fast. With the occasional, rare exception, I'm using shutter speeds from 1/1000 - 1/2500.
I also like to use apertures starting at f/8 for moving birds, if at all possible. Fast shutter, small aperture = stop action & depth of field.

Since I generally photograph Hummingbirds in plenty of daylight, I'm not afraid to push the ISO to get these settings.
With a full frame camera, I'll often use ISO settings in the 1000 - 2000 range with very manageable noise that can be pretty much
handled in post production. In this way, I can shoot very fast speeds. I always shoot RAW.

I've used both 200mm & 300mm lenses. Handheld shots vary from 8' - 10' away. Be prepared to sit and wait for a long time and move slow.
With tripod shots, I use a remote and place the camera closer to their resting point.

If I get a good image, I'm also not afraid to do heavy cropping in post production in order to highlight the bird.

Hope this helps.




ISO 2000, 1/2500 sec, f/9, 210mm


Ruby Throated Hummingbird Feets

Hi bside123,
I don't shoot birds, by " shoot " you know what I mean:
Take pictures of birds. 
I've be taking pictures since I was 18 years old (I'm now 67)
so I've been photographing for almost 50 years.
However, I always enjoy to see and read how others do it,
and even if I don't learn something new,
I always enjoy looking at the pictures
and humming birds pictures are always a treat for my eyes and mind.
Thanks.

Guy 13
(Advance amateur photographer)
 

[bside123]

Hi bside123,
I don't shoot birds, by " shoot " you know what I mean:
Take pictures of birds. 

Thanks.

Guy 13
(Advance amateur photographer)

Yea... a 300mm lens would deliver a rather large "bullet," and there wouldn't be any bird left! 
Better to take pictures... unless of course, that Hummingbird was attacking you!

I also enjoy seeing your photos.

Thanks.

[bside123]

Here's a couple of August Hummingbird shots, as they approach the feeder.

1) Female Ruby Throated Hummingbird hovers for a drink.

2) A Young Male Ruby Throated Hummingbird takes a rest.  Notice the distinct mark on his throat that later will spread to a full throat of red.


Ruby Throated Hummingbird - Female


Ruby Throated Hummingbird - Young Male

[Phil A]

Beautiful shots!

[WGH]

I find this cam oddly compelling....

Check out this LIVE FEED of one of the first residents of the new U of A ENR2 building! This little lady built a nest on the end of a data cable for a future wireless access point. We think this is an Ana or Black Chinned Hummingbird.

http://www.pdc.arizona.edu/webcam/ENR2_HummingBird.aspx

[WGH]

5th Annual Tucson Audubon Bird and Wildlife Festival, August 12-16, 2015
http://tucsonaudubon.org/what-we-do/festival.html

It's not too late, see 15 species of hummingbirds within a 100 mile radius of Tucson including:
Broad-billed Hummingbird
White-eared Hummingbird
Berylline Hummingbird
Violet-crowned Hummingbird
Blue-throated Hummingbird
Magnificent Hummingbird
Lucifer Hummingbird

"Bete Jones is the outreach manager for Tucson Audubon Society, which describes Tucson and southern Arizona as a birding hotspot where hundreds of local and migrating birds can be seen.

While August may not seem like an ideal to attract visitors to southern Arizona, Jones said the typical combination of summer sunshine, warm temperatures and thunderstorms is a boom to nature and wildlife.

Many plants and insects become active and so do birds and their human fans."

[Maritan]

That live feed seems awesome! I can't get it work though. But I was able to see the "babies stretch their wings" clip. So cool.

[WGH]

That live feed seems awesome! I can't get it work though.

Try another browser, live feed works fine with Firefox 39.0.3 even with Flashblock installed.
Sometimes I have to open a non-working site in IE, just the nature of the internet.

The chicks are hanging out waiting for Mom, they are expected to fledge Aug 14th.

[bside123]

"Why Can't We Just All Get Along?" Rodney King

It is well-known that hummingbirds can be extremely territorial, and it’s a wonder that ANY of the hummingbirds get anything to eat at this feeder including the one pictured below. Meet the “head honcho” and the apparent commander of the
pecking order of the hummingbird neighborhood. He’s too busy chasing away every guest to even have time to eat for himself!

No wonder this mean, little peckerwood is so little, or… is he so little because he’s a mean little peckerwood? Zen riddle of the day.

In the meantime, there’s about a half-dozen hummingbirds competing to work-in even a single sip of nectar from the feeder, while they hyper-vigilantly lookout for the “big boss."


Aggressive Male Ruby Throated Hummingbird

[BobM]

We have a family that decided to stay for the summer feeding in our backyard. They seem to like the natural flowers more than the feeder this year. Last years family liked the feeder in both the front and back of the house.

My wife does this on occasion - stands really still by the feeder and they come right up to her nose to check her out. Like this guy (the end of the video is cool - lots of birds)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOXHn9JuXD0

[JRace]

fantastic pics everyone!

That cam is great, amazing they don't fall out of the nest sooner.

Our birds left for a while, but now coming back. Even some smaller young ones too.
They have discovered our Butterfly-bush in the front yard and love it.

[thunderbrick]

Sunday afternoon saw four HB feeders being swarmed by the oversized insects.  Like shooting fish in a barrel.  All ISO500, 1/500th second, F4.5 or F5-ish
600mm on a monopod.  If you got close and stayed real still they'd come back in a minute or two.

[Kenneth Patchen]

This will be of interest, from today's NYT:

http://www.nytimes.com/video/science/100000003892113/the-hummingbirds-tongue.html?smid=nytcore-iphone-share&smprod=nytcore-iphone

[mcgsxr]

My neighbor has a feeder of some kind, so I occasionally see a hummingbird or two. 

My very territorial cat takes a significant interest in anything that moves, but he cannot process the speed of these little buggers.

Those shots here are awesome!