Attracting Hummingbirds
Tips on Attracting Hummingbirds
If attracting hummingbirds is your goal, there are many changes you can make in your yard in addition to putting up a hummingbird feeder. In fact, with just a little attention to landscaping you can create a habitat that hummingbirds will think is just right.
The first thing to do is to assess the space that you have and how it might be developed into a hummingbird habitat. Many people put a hummingbird feeder in the middle of the yard and think they have everything they need in place to attract hummingbirds. Finding food is the primary goal of every hummingbird each day, but attracting hummingbirds and getting them to stay and return can also have to do with what flowers, shrubs, trees, and water options you have.
One way to begin is to plant flowers that attract hummingbirds. These can be either native or non-native/exotic. If you do chose flowers that are not native, make sure you can control their reproduction, as many non-native species can be invasive. One of these is Japanese honeysuckle. Flowers that are good choices can include petunias, impatiens, fuchsias, lupine, cardinal flower, begonia, bee balm, red columbine, and vines, such as the trumpet creeper. The Rose of Sharon, cigar plant, shrimp plant and pineapple sage also appeal to hummingbirds.
Shrubs and trees are important in attracting hummingbirds as well. Some of these can include azaleas, honeysuckle, butterfly bushes, locust, tulip populars and flowering crab trees. Hummingbirds need not only to eat but to have many places to perch as well. The more branches, twigs, and leaves you have upon which to perch, the happier hummingbirds will be. You can also consider man-made constructions where they can perch, such as a clothesline.
While food is a necessity for hummingbirds, so is water, both for drinking and for taking baths. Tiny birds like hummingbirds do not frequent the birdbaths where larger birds go. But they do like places where they can find a small misting of water. One option is an attachment that can be bought for hoses that is a very light mister. It might even attract some insects that hummingbirds like to eat. Hummingbirds drink from the dew that makes droplets on leaves and blades of grass. A mister can also be used occasionally to provide these tiny drops of water on shrubbery and tree leaves.
Hummingbirds are very attracted to bright colors, especially reds. Although most hummingbird feeders have red as a color, you can add even more by hand. Another option is covering feeders with brightly colored surveyors’ tape. It is not only bright but reflects sunlight, which is a draw for hummingbirds. And, many times it is more productive to place a number of small feeders around the yard than just to have one large one. Some hummingbirds are very territorial so it is helpful to have more than one spot for hummingbirds to eat.