All, Hummer numbers at our SW Boise place are holding consistent with previous years. Which is to say, only 2-4 all season, and only BCHU’s. Currently the 3 juvenile BC’s continue to hang around, possibly influenced by a plethora of dense flowers, which they feed on regularly. Last year the BC’s stayed later than any of my 5 seasons at this location, last sighting about 9/12.
At our Valley Co place near Cascade, last week we still had 5 BCHU’s, only one appeared to be an adult, at our feeders, with no sightings there of Calliope or Rufous in many weeks.
Saw a pretty incredible, dramatic episode while floating the South Fork of the Snake River the other day. That river is loaded with Bald Eagles, Osprey and other large birds. So seeing two large birds flying towards us wasn’t out of the ordinary… until they were almost upon us and we saw, what I’m pretty sure was a Golden Eagle attacking, at high speed, a Great Blue Heron. At the last second, maybe 40′ above our raft, the eagle broke off the chase and the heron flew safely away. One of those “did we really just see that?” moments.
Here in the hills east of Pocatello, Moonlight Mine area, the hummingbird numbers are noticeably decreased, but those that are here are quite active! One thing we’ve noticed this year is a lack of Rufous. We had an early (July 4) female and male arrival but they only stayed a day or two. Since then, just an occasional female.
I am in Washington west of Sandpoint and Priest River. I can say that the hummers have all but disappeared around my place. Like Brian I have been seen good numbers of catbirds the last couple of years with multiple pairs in my neighborhood still.
Thanks for the responses. Today, have seen one adult male BC & a juv BC Hummingbird at feeder. Both have hit feeder sev times. Think this summer’s heat & wildfires have thrown others into a different migration route. As it cools, will see if more show. In past yrs, by now, typical to have had regular visits by Rufous (a handful last mo), Calliope & Broad-tailed.
Did just have a lone Pine Siskin show at platform feeder. And, have 4-5 Gray Catbirds in backyard stream willows this summer. Have nested there for sev yrs now. A Wilson’s Warbler earlier today.
I live in the North End of Boise, and I haven’t seen a big drop in hummers. I have 3 feeders scattered around a yard that is full of colorful flowers. Sometimes we see them at the feeders and other times they ae at the flowers. Compared to last year, this year
has been more productive. Almost all have been Black-chinned, with a few sightings of Rufous.
We live in the West Bench area of Boise and noticed a drop off in humming birds last year. So far this year the sightings have plummeted. My semi-scientific way of measuring
this is by the number of humming bird pictures have taken over the last three years. For 2026, I have taken approximately 70% fewer pictures than 2025, to date. In 2025 I took about 20% few pictures than 2024. We also are not having to fill the hummingbird
feeders nearly as often, this year, as well. Friends that live within a few miles of us have also noticed the drop off in sightings.
What I don’t know is if this pattern holds in other parts of Boise, or the Treasure Valley. May just be someone has prettier and more aromatic flowers in their garden five miles
away from us and we just need to up our gardening game.
Bill Moore, if you see this, suspect you’re probably getting dozens. But, curious, have you noticed any decrease in your hummingbird numbers??? Any other folks out there have info on hummingbird migration?
Brian Carrigan
Blackfoot
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