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The Art of Attracting Hummingbirds
Zoe Ann Hinds
If you are interested in gardening and also enjoy seeing hummingbirds in your yard, why not try to combine your two passions? While many people use artificial feeders to attract hummingbirds, many other people choose to grow certain plants in their flower garden in an effort to attract hummingbirds to their yard. No matter what method you choose to use to help attract hummingbirds to your yard, this article will provide you with useful information that will help you have success in your efforts to do so.
By planting a garden with a long season of overlapping bloom, you can play host to these miniature birds that fly like they are a cross between a stealth fighter and a helicopter. It is alright to use some artificial feeders but if you would rather attract hummingbirds in the flower garden, choose plants like the petunia, annual red salvia, autumn sage and shrimp plants. Another possibility that is often overlooked is the firebush. Hummingbirds are attracted to colorful flowers, especially those with red color.
Native plants like the cardinal flower and the coral honeysuckle, which is not invasive like the Japanese honeysuckle and trumpet vine are much loved by hummingbirds. Even if your flower garden is in the shade most of the day, you can attract hummingbirds with hostas and impatiens.
Those of you who want the best of both worlds, hummingbirds and butterflies, should choose plants like lantana, butterfly bush and butterfly weed. It is important to remember that no pesticides should be used in either a butterfly or hummingbird garden!
The hummingbird can ingest the pesticide, but many gardeners do not know that these little acrobats also feed on small insects and spiders. Hummingbirds are unique creatures when it comes to eating. When feeding, they lick up to 13 times a second. Hummingbirds eat every 10 to 15 minutes from sunrise until sunset and devour more than half their weight in food.
There is a very valid reason why the hummingbird must consume so much food each day. They actually have to hibernate through the night, decreasing their heart rate and body temperature or they reportedly would starve to death. This should make you not only want to grow more flowers but take good care of the artificial feeders.
If you choose to put up birdfeeders rather than trying to attract the hummingbirds with a flower garden, there are a variety of different types of hummingbird feeders that you can purchase. It is recommended that you should use a birdfeeder with a perch at the feeder to encourage the birds to remain at the feeder for a longer period of time. Red color on the feeder is also attractive to hummingbirds.
There is a lot more to artificial feeders than simply hanging one in a tree. Nectar from flowers provides more nourishment than sugar water. To provide a better diet, buy packages of instant nectar solution or make your own. To make your own, use 1 part white granulated cane sugar to 4 parts water.
You may think this is sugar water, but the big difference is that you need to bring this solution to a boil for 1 1/2 minutes and then let it cool down. Now you have a mixture much more similar to that of the flower nectar. Hot weather can cause rapid bacterial growth, so change solutions every three to five days. It is not necessary to add food coloring, especially if the feeder has a red blossom at the feeding point. Red food coloring is unhealthy for hummingbirds. Also, honey should not be used because it attracts bees and favors the growth of a black fungus that causes a fatal liver and tongue disease in hummingbirds.
It doesn't matter what method you choose to use in trying to attract hummingbirds to your yard. With a little thought and effort on your part, you can enjoy watching them throughout the summer season. So sit back and enjoy watching the smallest and often most fascinating of creatures of the bird species.
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