Attracting Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds need more than a hummingbird feeder and sugar water to be attracted to your yard. Building their habitat takes patience and time. Everything doesn’t happen overnight. Sometimes it will take a few years. You will see results the first year and it gets better as time goes on.

I have heard recommendations to put out a hummingbird feeder in mid-April for the scouts during migration. The theory is if the scout finds a food source, it will alert others to come back after breeding season is over. However, hummingbirds are loners and it might not apply to them. I still put out my feeder and have something like a red calibrachoa hanging basket out for food mid-April. True or false, I still have plenty of hummers. What does it hurt?

Place your feeders out in the open, but close enough to shrubs for a quick get away in case of danger. If you are putting up more than one feeder, scatter them throughout the yard. Hummingbirds are territorial and will chase others off if they are too close together. Place them with some shade so the nectar doesn’t become rancid in the heat.

Fun facts: Hummingbirds usually only lay 2 eggs per season, their average weight is less than a nickel, they do not have a sense of smell but have great color vision, are the only bird that can fly backwards. Hummingbirds are loners and do not migrate in flocks like other birds and they can travel up to 500 miles at a time. They have an incredible memory.

Building a sanctuary for hummingbirds

When placing your hummingbird garden, it doesn’t have to be big or have all the plants recommended. Look for a sunny location for the bed. Pick a place close to your patio so you can watch.

Create a 4-season garden so it looks good year-round. Consider using some sort of hardscapes in the bed and use the plants to enhance the hardscapes, creating a natural setting that looks like it is suppose to be there. Think vertically. Use an arbor, fence or a place that a trellis can attach to to support vines and support a feeder.

Hummingbirds need a shallow water station. While hummingbirds do take a drink, they need a place to bathe! A birdbath offers hummingbirds a place to wash debris and residue from their feathers. A birdbath also allows hummingbirds to spread the oil from their preen gland to the rest of their bodies, helping them stay warm and fly more efficiently. They prefer clean water and would prefer misters and sprinklers, but will settle for a saucer. The station should be placed in a open spot with perching areas near by and close to cover if they feel threatened.

Hummingbirds are attracted to bright colors, especially red. Sometimes they are attracted to the flowers for their color, but don’t necessarily feed on them. They usually feed on nectar rich tubular flowers. They don’t live on nectar alone! Insects are a huge part of their diet, so limit your use of herbicides and pesticides.

Hummingbirds will nest in maples, poplars, and fir trees. They usually set their nests high in the tree between 10-30 feet up. They do like other evergreens and pines closer to the ground for shelter or cover when threatened.

Here is a list of some of the popular plants that are recommended to attract hummingbirds and other pollinators and birds to your yard.

Handpainted Hummingbird Feeder - Creative Art by Renaee

Shrubs

Caryopteris (blue mist spirea), Althea (rose of Sharon), Weigela, Golden Current, Buddleia (Butterfly bush), Clethra (Summersweet), Viburnums, Willows

Trees

Crabapples, Hawthorn, Catalpa, Birch, Maples, Oak, Poplar, Pines and Firs

Perennials

Agastache, Salvias, Redbirds in a Tree, Vermillion Bluffs salvia, Zauschneria Hummingbird Trumpet, Penstemon, Gaillardia, Beebalm, Red Valerian, Yarrow, Coneflowers, Redhot Pokers, Ferns, Creeping Phlox, Garden Phlox, Coral Bells, Crocosmia, Monardella, Delphinium

Annuals

Vermillionaire Cuphea (and other Cupheas), Annual Salvias, Mandevillias, Hollyhocks, Calibrachoa, Impatience, Zinnias, Verbena, Snapdragons, Lantana, Nicotiana (flowering tobacco)

Vines

Trumpet Vine, Clematis, Annual Cardinal Flower, Honeysuckle, Annual Hyacinth Bean

Other Visitors

When creating this habitat for hummingbirds, you will find that you will end up creating a sanctuary for others as well. The best sanctuary that you create will be the one for yourself!!! You will have a place to where you can have morning coffee or an afternoon cocktail and enjoy what Mother Nature has to offer.