A couple of months ago, after looking at a very disturbing picture of a hummingbird caught in a Best-1 feeder posted by someone on the Forum, I immediately bought new bases for mine. Because of the hot weather, I need to use glass feeders, so fixing the ones I had seemed the most logical thing to do. I found these bases on eBay. They have the double ring and also have angled holes so the hummingbirds can eat more easily.

This little guy was a real mystery but I have finally concluded it is a juvenile Black-chinned male (please correct me if I'm wrong). The dark patch on his throat is bright purple so at first I thought it was a female Costas since we have several around. But the beak and general outline semed wrong, so I finally decided it was a BC with an oversize purple patch. He loves this feeder and comes every morning and night

Carla
Glad to hear that you were able to correct your Best 1 feeders and put them back into use.

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

Carla, not that I am an expert with this species, but the shape of the incipient gorget strongly suggests that your little guy is a young male Costa's rather than a Black-chinned.

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Nancy L Newfield
Casa Colibrí
Metairie, Louisiana USA
USDA Zone 9

Thanks so much Nancy. I really believed it was a Costas ('tho I thought Costas female) but the beak threw me. We were lucky enough to have both Costas and Anna's that stayed all winter so I got to see them both quite a bit. I have also seen a beautiful Costas male "hanging" around this summer. So...I will now go back to my original thought even 'tho the beak is straight! With not only Costas and Anna's but Black-chinned as well, keeping them all straight has been a challenge, so any tips are greatly appreciated.

Carla, I am not sure what you meant by "the beak threw me". Black-chinned bills can sometimes be somewhat decurved [especially females] and they are usually longer than Costa's bills [especially females]. As best I know, Costa's bills are always straight and fairly short.

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Nancy L Newfield
Casa Colibrí
Metairie, Louisiana USA
USDA Zone 9

Where on Ebay? I cannot find the improved base when I look!

Mark Hilliard, N2HHR Coastal SC
www.MarkHilliardAtelier.com & www.InfraredAtelier.com
www.LowCountry-Hummingbirds.com

Thanks for the info Nancy. For some reason I thought I remembered the Costas' bill being noticably curved. However, I looked back at some other pictues from last winter and see that they do, indeed, seem to be straighter than I remembered tho' some did have a slight downward curve. As I said, I am new to all this, and am learning as I go....Mark...All I can tell you is the seller was grandma*darlene the # was 200352814512. The title was "New Humdinger Hummingbird feeder base". I think if you go in on that number you can email her thru ebay.

Carla--- Glad you were able to update your best-1 feeders. Guess I am the one who did that dirty deed in posting the photos. It was not meant to alarm anyone only to inform and then they could make their own decision on what was needed.

Steve
Martinsville, In
Heat zone 6
Sunset zone 35

I'm a relative newbie (and have plastic feeders!) Is it better to have glass feeders than plastic?

I'm new too. Welcome. I'll let others answer your question as well since I know most of them have plastic feeders, but, for me glass works best because I live in Utah where summer temps reach (as it will today) over 105 degrees. Also, we have Black-chinned hummingbirds who seem to prefer the Best-1 feeder.

I use plastic and glass I guess it depends The best-1 feeders are really great feeders easy to clean. I use the humzinger plastic feeders under a humbrella I have alot of feeders But those two are probably my favorites. The hummers like them both They like perky-pet too But I don't because they leak

sarah merion station, Pennsylvania zone 6B

Carla,

Actually, the base I'm seeing in your pictures appears (and I stress "appears") to be from what's sold as a "Humdinger" feeder. I own one of these feeders and it's a copy or knockoff of the actual "Best-1" feeder design. You can see an image of one of these here:

http://tinyurl.com/nzqm5d

This is a 32-oz version, but they make a smaller one (I have one of the smaller ones). The reason I recognized it is that the "real" Best-1 doesn't have the yellow flowers painted on the feeder port surface, and there's also a grove around the lid/surface to the base, as here:

http://tinyurl.com/n4yp3j

They do seem to work interchangeably, and I don't know that there's anything "wrong" with the copy version. In fact, my own experience has been that the "real" Best-1 red plastic quickly fades to a pinkish color within one season in the sun, and the "copy" version, being a different kind of plastic, doesn't fade much at all. However, I do find that the Best-1 plastic is a lot sturdier than the "Humdinger" copy.

(And I note that there are several feeders out there branded "Humdinger" but this one lists the name as a registered trademark.)

Kevin Morgan
Baton Rouge, LA