Attracting Hummingbirds

Attracting Hummers To Your Garden

Humming Birds Facts

• There are 16 species of hummingbirds in the United States and Canada. The Ruby Throated hummingbird is the most common.

• A hummingbird can beat its wings anywhere from 60 to 200 times per second, fly at speeds of up to 60 mph, and migrate more than 600 miles. In flight, they are capable of maneuvering forwards, backwards, from side-to-side and even stopping in mid flight.

• The average lifespan of a hummingbird in the wild is 5-6 years.

• A hummingbirds diet consists primarily of nectar and insects. They lap nectar using long, grooved tongues, which empty into their throat when they constrict their bills.

• Hummingbirds do not sing true 'songs'. Instead, they communicate using trills and chirps.

• As the smallest birds in the world, hummingbirds have incredibly fast metabolisms. To stay fueled up, they must consume roughly half their weight in sugar each day.

• When hummingbirds need to conserve energy they go into a sleep-like state called 'torpor'. Torpor requires 50 times less energy use than a fully awake state, but renders the hummers unable to respond to emergencies. During torpor, their body temperature may drop by as much as 50 degrees and their heart rate slows from 500 beats per minute to 50. It takes approximately 1 hour for a hummingbird 'wake up' from torpor.

• Hummingbirds have poorly developed feet (they can hardly walk), but they do like to perch.

Plants That Attract Hummingbirds

Trees & Shrubs

Abelia, Azalea, Bottle Brush, Butterfly Bush (Buddleia), Cape Honeysuckle, Catoneaster, Hibiscus, Flame Acanthus, Flowering Current, Flowering Quince, Lantana, Lilac, Manzanita, Mimosa, Red Buckeye, Tree Tobacco, Turk's Cap, Weigela.

Vines

Bougainvillea, Coral Honeysuckle, Cypress Vine, Morning Glory, Rosary Vines, Scarlet Runner Bean, Trumpet Creeper, Trumpet Vines.

Flowers

Perennials: Bee Balm (Monarda), Canna, Cardinal Flower, Columbine, Coral Bells, Gladiolus, Four-O-Clocks, Foxglove, Iris, Hosta, Hummingbird Mint (Agastache), Little Cigar, Lupine, Penstemon, Yucca

Annuals: Beard tongue, Firespike, Fuchsia, Impatiens, Jacobiana, Jewelweed, Nasturtium, Petunia, Salvia, Shrimp Plant, Spider Flower, Zinnia.

Hummingbird Feeders

Ideally, feeders should be hung near windows-close enough to watch the action. Cutouts of predatory birds or partially closed vertical blinds will prevent bird strikes on windows, although that seldom seems to be a concern with hummingbirds. It isn't uncommon for hungry hummers to empty feeders quickly so check them daily. Also, be aware that in some areas (parts of the southwest), sugar loving bats also like hummingbird feeders and may empty them overnight. These bats are important pollinators to desert plants, so don't harm them, just bring your feeder indoors for the night.

Recipe for artificial nectar:

• 1 part ordinary white cane sugar to 4 parts water.

Boiling this syrup is not necessary. Fermentation problems are caused by organisms on the bird's own beaks, not by the water. Unused syrup can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Syrup will spoil quickly in warm weather so discard any unused portions after a few days and refill with fresh syrup.

Do not use Jell-O, honey, brown sugar, or fruit in your feeder. These can harm, and in some cases even kill hummingbirds. Do not use distilled water (it lacks important trace minerals) or red dye to color the water in your feeder (the base of most feeders are colored and if not, hummingbirds are smart enough to figure it out anyway).

By Ellen Brown

Hummingbirds And "Four O'Clocks"

For several days, I pondered how much hummingbirds like "four o' clocks," then a hummingbird showed me the answer.

Four o'clocks open in the morning, then close, then open later on again.

The four o'clocks were half-closed, and the hummer went to them, to white, yellow, pink, not even bothering with the red flowers, and showed me, "how can it bother with nectar from these flowers, when the flowers are closed most of the day?"

That's when I realized that hummingbirds love flowers and their nectar so much, that they prefer flowers whose long tubed petals stay open all day, so they can keep getting the nectar from them.

Four o' clocks open, then close, then open again. They are a fussier flower.

That's what the hummingbird showed me the other day.

By Carol from SouthBend, IN

Hanging Baskets for Attracting Hummingbirds

Hanging baskets are a great way to attract hummingbirds to your garden. Once they find your flowers, they will return again and again, to dine on them all season long.

Tips for Selecting Flowers

Hummingbirds feed often - about every 10 minutes. In fact, in a single day they typically eat many times their body weight in sugar. When selecting flowers for your hummingbird baskets, look for nectar-rich, tubular or trumpet-shaped blooms, which the birds will be able access easily with their long, trough-like tongues.

Aim for a variety of different flowers, and be careful about using too many hybrids, as they tend to produce less nectar than their "wilder" cousins. Regardless of which types of flowers you choose, make sure that all of the plants in each basket share similar food, water, and light requirements. Here are some other important points to consider:

• Growth habit. Hummingbirds feed while hovering in midair and rapidly beating their wings (up to 100 beats per minute). To facilitate easy feeding, choose trailing plants with blooms that protrude cleanly from the plant's foliage.
• Flower color. Hummingbirds rely on their eyesight to find food. According to ornithologists, they most attracted to the color red, which they can see from great distances. Although red may be the color most likely to draw them in, they will happily drink nectar from flowers of any color.
• Flower abundance. These tiny birds are efficient feeders. Baskets featuring plants with prolific amounts of open blooms, like Million Bells, will be visited more often than plants with only a few large blooms, such as Hibiscus.
• Bloom time. Plan for an extended season of blooming. This can be done by planting several different baskets with staggered bloom times, or by selecting plants that bloom continuously throughout the flowering season (e.g. petunias).

  Northern gardeners will still want to offer nectar in traditional hummingbird feeders for hummers that return to breed in the spring before the growing season has gotten fully underway.

• Provide water. Hummingbirds love water, but they don't necessarily bathe the same way that other garden birds do. Instead, they prefer to brush against wet leaves after it rains, fly through misting water, or splash in shallow basins to get clean. After their bath, they find a perch to preen their feathers, and may even take short sun-bath to dry off.

Selecting Baskets

Hummingbirds are not at all picky about what type of basket you use, although wire baskets lined with sphagnum moss are a nice choice, as lichen and moss are their preferred nesting materials. A basket 12 inches or more in diameter will be easiest to maintain and will be more visually appealing because it can hold more plants.

Hanging Your Baskets

When hanging your hummingbird basket, choose a sunny location that is sheltered from the wind. Ideally, it will be near enough to a patio or deck to allow you to closely watch their activities. Male hummingbirds can be quite territorial. Hanging a second basket out of view of the first (e.g. one in the backyard and one in the front yard) can help reduce competition among birds.

If you are using a pole system or Shepard's hook to support your basket, seal the pipe seams with a small amount of clear silicone gel. There have been reports of birds injuring their tiny feet by accidentally getting them stuck in between the seams of the poles.

Try to hang your basket in the same place each year. Hummingbirds have very reliable memories and will look for hanging baskets in the same location year after year.

Flowers Recommended for Hummingbird Baskets:

Annuals:

• Begonia
• Cigar plants
• Cosmos
• Four-o-clock
• Fuchsia
• Geranium (trailing types)
• Impatiens
• Lantana
• Million bells
• Nasturtium
• Nicotiana
• Parrot's Beak
• Petunias
• Phlox
• Salvia
• Scaevola
• Shrimp Plant

Perennials:

• Agastache
• Bee balm
• Coral bells
• Dwarf Delphinium
• Penstemon
• Phlox
• Salvia
• Snap Dragon
• Verbena
• Veronica

Vines & Climbers:

• Canary creeper
• Cardinal climber
• Caroline jasmine
• Clematis
• Cypress vine
• Honey suckle vine
• Morning glory
• Scarlet runner
• Trumpet creeper

By Ellen Brown

Flowers To Attract Hummingbirds

Over the years, as my garden grew, I added more and more plants for my little visitors. One day a hummer flew over to the feeder, but then saw the Scarlet Runner Bean, a few feet away and quickly decided she liked the real thing much better. Once I saw her preference, I took the feeder down. My garden is filled with sweet delights for her to choose from. Hopefully I can help you attract these little marvels to your backyard. By feeder or flowers, you'll enjoy the company.

Supplies:

• Hummingbird feeder
• or small vial /cordial glass
• red ribbon
• sugar and water
• Hummingbird flowers

Instructions:

You don't have to buy the nectar, it's very easy to make. 1 part sugar to 4 parts water. Boil 1 cup of water, stir in 1/4 cup of sugar until dissolved. Let cool. Pour half of your mixture into feeder, store the rest in the frig.

You'll need to clean the feeder every 3 days to avoid any fungus or bacteria, it could kill the birds. (I used vinegar to clean it) Hang the feeder for good viewing, but not too close to where you might be sitting. 15 feet away is good.

For attracting the hummers with flowers:
(These are the flowers I found to be their favorites in my garden in New Jersey.)There are many more flowers that attract the hummingbird. I find these to be their favorites. Although they are attracted to red, they do go to other colors.

• #1 is the Scarlet Honeysuckle Dropmore (I think that's the name), it's a perennial vine. It flowers from May to Oct.

• Next is an annual vine, Scarlet Runner Bean. I plant the bean every year, easy to grow, but I have to protect it from the bunnies. You can find this in the nursery dept. with the seed packets. Or just save the dried beans after you've grown your first vine. Plant it the next year, after your frost date (NJ's is May 15th).

• Another wonderful favorite is Crocosmia. I have the red perennial. It grows 25-30 inches high and blooms in June. The hummer will sit on the arching stem and take in the sweet nectar.

• Liatris is just another favorite for the little winged spirit. I have the purple Liatris, which grows about 24 inches in a spiked form.

• Perennial garden phlox will attract, there is a variety of colors and grows about 30 inches.

• Cardinal flower is also an appetizing perennial treat, the red flowers appear on green spikes at about 24 inches.

• Perennial butterfly weed is a pretty orange flower, at about 18 inches high (it grows in a somewhat bushy form).

• Annuals you'd want to plant are nicotiana, lantana, petunia, verbena and zinnia.

• Butterfly Bush can be part of their diet, but I find the other flowers attract her more. Of course it doesn't hurt having the sweet smelling butterfly bush around, butterflies rarely pass by this one!

Enjoy!

By Deb H. from East Brunswick, NJ

Attract Hummingbirds with Red Shirt