teatree, I did some reading up, and everything I find labels the Rufous as the "most territorial" "fiestiest" and "most aggressive." One thing that you can do is to move that Black and Blue Salvia far away from your seed feeders. That might help somewhat. I found this in my reading: "Rufous hummingbirds are a solitary species and are very defensive and aggressive near feeders, particularly during migration. The birds will chase and pursue other hummingbirds, large insects and songbirds, and they will even exhibit threat displays at other creatures, including humans. Threat displays include diving, tail fanning and other visual demonstrations." From this site: http://birding.about.com/od/birdprofiles/p/rufoushummingbird.htm

Dandelion seeds. Not what you probably want to plant but real fun watching goldfinches attact the seed heads from the air. When one piece of fluff gets away they do all kinds of acrobatics to catch the seed. Plant some zinna's and other of the plant foods recomended for your area. In my area the finches are on their nests and are less likely to visit feeders. When fledged they will sometimes come to the feeders. Watch for sparrow like birds on the ground near the feeders. The baby birds will put their wings out and shake them to get parents attention. Baby finches do not have the same coloration that mature birds do.

The baby is old enough to leave the nest and should soon hop up into foliage like hedges or a brush pile and be o.k. as the parents will continue to feed it. They grow quickly, fledging 11-19 days after hatching

i had one pair of house finches bring their babys 4 of them last week but they have went somewhere. Had one downey yesterday and a Lewis's woodpecker the day before. only kinds in big numbers are the bullocks orioles and the western tanagers and lots of red wing blackbirds and some grosbeaks. one lone juniper titmouse comes occasionally. and the hummingbirds are rare this year. should have lots of little orioles and tanagers soon as they are nesting now