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Attracting Hummingbirds
Patricia McDermitt
Adams County Master Gardener
 One of the great joys of warmer weather is the annual arrival of the
Ruby-Throated Hummingbird. Last year, as I stood and watched the birds at the feeder on a particularly dreary, snowy, winter’s day, I wondered where all the hummingbirds were
and when they would be coming back to our area. I began planning what I could do to make sure to attract these delightful creatures to my yard. No doubt, many people would
like to attract hummingbirds to their yards as well; and hopefully, once you’ve read this article you’ll know how to create a habitat for hummingbirds, and they will bless
you with their presence. Keep your camera handy, too, because you’re in for a real treat.
The hummingbird’s territory is North and South America. They travel as far south as Southern Chili and as far north as Alaska. There are 163
different species of hummingbirds in Ecuador in northwestern South America, the only country with that many different species. In this part of North America (the eastern
seaboard), typically we only see the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird.
There is a difference between feeding and creating a habit for hummingbirds. I encourage you to create a habitat for them versus just putting
out a feeder with sugar water. Hummingbirds do love sugar water, and it supplies the energy they need to do all that flying about. They especially need that energy to
migrate. They fly a great distance across the Gulf of Mexico to get to this part of the country. However, providing key essentials hummingbirds need can establish a much more
beneficial environment for them.
Hummingbirds need a nesting place, food supply (both insects and nectar) and water.
Here are my suggestions for creating a habitat to attract these little wonders.
First let’s start with a nesting place. They will build their small cup shaped nests in trees at the cross of a branch that is protected from
wind and weather. The female usually lays 2-3 eggs. The male does not take part in the nesting. They do not use the typical birdhouse, but I did find a hummingbird house,
manufactured by a man out west in his garage, that supplies all their needs for nesting. I have purchased a few of them for gifts and am trying one myself this summer. And of
course, trees and bushes are the natural place for them to nest.
What we commonly think of as hummingbird feeders do not supply all the nutrients that these birds need. Hummingbirds eat insects and spiders
for protein. While they are feeding their young, they usually don’t go to the feeders for nourishment, and you will notice they are missing from your feeder during this time.
If you use a feeder, please clean it regularly with hot water and replace the nectar if it spoils. The nectar can spoil within a couple of days during the hot summer. Please
be diligent with cleaning and replacing the nectar as it is possible to kill a hummingbird with spoiled nectar. No need for food coloring either. Please leave that out. Use
only white sugar water. Usually one cup of sugar to 4 cups of water. Boiling the mixture will deter the growth of bacteria and yeasts.
Water is also important to hummingbirds. They like to bath regularly and will be attracted to a place that gives them a place to bath. They
also need water to drink.
The most important factor in attracting a hummingbird is the garden. It’s not hard to create a hummingbird garden, but it does need to
contain key ingredients to attract and keep their attention all summer long. Choose plants that flower at different times so a food source is always present. Red flowers
attract them, as well as red gazing balls or other red yard ornaments. Hummers have been known to fly into a garage attracted by the red handle on the automatic garage door
opener. If this happens, cover the red handle and leave the doors open so they can find their way back out.
Some plants that hummingbirds are attracting to include azaleas, rhododendrons, red columbine, lantana, honeysuckle, hollyhock, petunias,
morning glories, impatiens, day lilies, phlox, bee balm, and delphinium to name a few. They also like Butterfly Bushes and Rose of Sharon, BUT I am not recommending that you
plant these because they are invasive in our area. Also, remember that whatever you spray on your plants is ingested by the hummingbirds and can make them sick or even kill
them.
Hummingbirds are charming creatures that make the gardens they visit very special places. In addition, they have been favorite flower
pollinators for a very long time. When early American poet Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) saw a Ruby-Throated Hummingbird in her garden she wrote the following:
Within My Garden, Rides a Bird
Within my Garden, rides a Bird
Upon a single Wheel --
Whose spokes a dizzy Music make
As 'twere a travelling Mill --
He never stops, but slackens
Above the Ripest Rose --
Partakes without alighting
And praises as he goes,
Till every spice is tasted --
And then his Fairy Gig
Reels in remoter atmospheres --
And I rejoin my Dog,
And He and I, perplex us,
If positive, 'twere we --
Or bore the Garden in the Brain
This Curiosity --
But He, the best Logician,
Refers my clumsy eye --
To just vibrating Blossoms!
An Exquisite Reply!
Read other articles on birds, wildlife & beneficial insects
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