Kerr History 101: What’s the link between Kerrville and Hummingbird Feeders?

W. R. (Robert) Sullivan, a patient at 
Kerrville's Veterans Administration Hospital in the 1930s.

Many of us have hummingbird feeders hanging somewhere on our houses – ours is above the little slab ‘patio’ in our backyard, hanging under an eave of the roof, where it’s protected from sun and rain. Whenever someone posts on social media the arrival of hummingbirds locally, I concoct the mixture of sugar and water as recommended, and hang our feeder out, and within a few days we have our first customer.

Unlike others, we only get a few hummingbirds each year. I’ve seen photos of swarms of hummingbirds on others’ feeders, but ours are never crowded. Even though we only have a few visitors, they often disagree with each other, fighting and fussing over an ample supply of sweetened water – enough to feed a much larger charm of hummingbirds.

Here’s something you might not know: In 1932, W. R. (Robert) Sullivan invented an early hummingbird feeder, made from vinegar bottles, or I. V. bottles, along with Scotch tape tins, right here in Kerrville. 

Here’s a summary of the Wikipedia entry on Sullivan:

Our feeder, back when we used
red food coloring, long ago.

By 1936, Sullivan had installed a hummingbird feeder outside his patient room at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Legion, Texas, near Kerrville. Over time, he placed approximately 25 feeders around the hospital grounds. In 1939, Sullivan observed that hummingbirds consumed one US quart (950 ml) of the sweetened water solution in his feeder daily. His feeder design was adopted by fellow patients at the hospital and residents of Kerrville. His design prevented other birds or insects from drinking from the feeder.

Sullivan was a patient at the VA Hospital, recovering from tuberculosis. His interest in hummingbirds was more than just as a hobbyist – he wanted to band the birds for study, though at the time bands designed for birds were much too heavy for the little hummingbirds to support. He also shipped hummingbirds to several zoos around the country, with mixed success.

The Kerrville Times published a brief story about Sullivan on July 23, 1936:

“Legion Hospital Is Humming-Bird Sanctuary Without Equal in State,” declared the headline.

“Among summer visitors here are none so distinguished as the estimated group of 500 hummingbirds who come to Veterans Administration Hospital at Legion each season. There are probably few, if any, other places in Texas where so many of the birds gather.

“Patients there have placed 25 feeders about the grounds; everything is done to provide for the welfare of the birds. The little visitors come all the way from the south part of Mexico, below Mexico City. Males begin arriving about March 15 and the females tag along about three days later. Last stragglers have left for their home by the middle of September.

“Lying in his bed in a second story room of Ward 2, W. R. Sullivan, a patient there, has been observing the birds for several seasons. He has a feeder, containing sugar-saturated water, outside his window, and at times opens the window, places the feeder inside, and tempts the birds to the interior.

“They dart in, not shyly, but with an assurance that bespeaks ownership. Sometimes as many as 40 come into the room at one time. Wings whirring and humming, they make as much noise as 40 small electric fans. Perching for a moment on a light cord or tie rack, inspecting a curtain sash or zooming around the ceiling, they are everywhere at the same time.

“The humming-birds are not as afraid of human beings as they are of each other. They will alight on Sullivan's hand but are continually quarreling among themselves.

Later, another Kerrville man, Prentiss Swayze, who worked at the Kerrville post office, produced hummingbird feeders in Kerrville. Like Sullivan’s design, Swayze’s was made from an inverted glass bottle attached to a round metal tin.

For materials, he used Scotch tape tins and empty I.V. bottles from Kerrville's Sid Peterson Memorial Hospital. This was convenient: the hospital was in the same block as the post office in those days, with the post office where the Kerr Arts and Cultural Center is today, and the hospital on the western corner of what is now called Peterson Plaza.

According to his brother, the late Francis “Fuzzy” Swayze, producing the hummingbird feeders "started out a hobby but with intent of college funds for Jim, his adopted son. Used Scotch tape cans and bottles from Sid Peterson and later with arrangements with maintenance people at a San Antonio hospital for greater supply."

I'm sure you're familiar with the design Prentiss Swayze produced: I've seen these feeders hanging from people's porches my entire life, but I had no idea they were invented and produced here in Kerrville. Their bright red metal base, the red metal ring looping the glass bottle, seem as familiar as a bend in our Guadalupe River.

Prentiss Swayze eventually got out of the hummingbird feeder business.

"Finally sold his equipment and mailing list, 1600 names throughout U.S. to somebody around Vanderpool. Can’t think of the Ingram machinist who rigged up the setup for mass-production but it was a neat operation, strictly one man," Fuzzy told me, years ago.

Starting about a decade ago, hummingbird feeders were again being produced here in Kerrville by the Tejas Hummingbird Feeder company; their website says the brand was retired in July, 2023.

Until next week, all the best.

Joe Herring Jr. is a Kerrville native whose sweetheart, Carolyn, calls the hummingbirds who visit our feeder “Joe’s pets.” This column originally appeared in the Kerr County Lead May 30, 2024.

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