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See How Feeding Hummingbirds Can Give You an Up Close View!

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Written by Rob Huff

Wednesday, 28 May 2008

by RobHuff

One of the most interesting birds around is the hummingbird. There is just nothing else like watching the tiny creature zip around your yard and find hummingbird food. The little bird can zip across the yard, buzz your ear and fly away before you can even spot it! Keeping a regular hummingbird visitor in your yard is fun and easy to do, just provide a little hummingbird food.

Adding natural sources of hummingbird food to your yard is the best way to attract hummingbirds. Add a few hummingbird feeders to your garden and you can have hummingbirds near your home from spring until fall. Natural sources of hummer food are really easy to set up and maintain. These plants not only attract hummingbirds but they will also make your yard more attractive. Most flowers that attract hummers are red and very attractive.

Natural Hummingbird Nectar

Nectar is the main food source for hummingbirds. They find nectar in flowers. Hummingbirds seem to be attracted to red flowers more than other colors. I have used scarlet salvia, cardinal flower, red bee balm and coral bells with great success. I prefer perennials to annuals as they come back year after year providing a reliable natural food source for hummingbirds. Hummingbirds supplement their diet with tiny flying insects.

"Artificial" Hummingbird Food

You don't need a large yard to attract hummingbirds, in fact you don't need a yard at all. Whether you live in a condo, an apartment or in the city you can attract hummingbirds. Hanging flower baskets will attract hummingbirds and they don't require a lot of space. You can also use hummingbird feeders in small spaces. They are available in many sizes and shapes. You can hang them from windowsills, under your eaves or even attach them to a window.

The color and the style of the feeder is what attracts the bird. Any feeder with red or dark pink parts gets the attention of the hummingbird. Your hummingbird feeder can be round, oval, glass, plastic or even multi-colored, but it will need nectar inside to get the birds to return.

Feeders for Hummingbirds

Hummingbird feeders come in two basic styles, dish and bottle. The bottle style hummingbird feeder is usually a glass or plastic bottle turned upside down, sending the nectar down a tube. They often include red plastic flowers and bee-guards (little plastic screens that keep insects away from the sugar solution) on the feeding port. One downside to this style hummingbird feeder is that they tend to leak. When hanging in sunlight the liquid stored in the bottle feeder warms and expands. The expansion forces small amounts of nectar out the feeding tube.

Some dish style hummingbird feeders are made out of plastic others are made out of blown glass. The plastic feeders are basically a dish with a cover. The cover has multiple feeding ports built in. The feeding ports are usually shaped like flowers. Having feeding ports on top helps to discourage flying insects from invading your feeder. The blown glass feeders are usually ball shaped with several feeding ports on top. They are often beautiful pieces of art. Many dish feeders include a storage bottle above the dish to decrease the number of times it has to be filled. I think the dish style feeders work better than the bottle style.

Hummingbird Nectar Recipe

Making your own hummingbird nectar is easy. The only thing you need to remember is four parts water, one part sugar. You can make as much as you need just follow the 4 to 1 formula. Some people say that a stronger ratio of 4 parts water and 2 parts sugar will attract hummingbirds faster to a new hummingbird feeder location.

Boiling the water before adding the sugar will help the mixture blend thoroughly. You can also just stir the sugar into cool water but it will take longer to blend. Do not add red food dye to the mixture, it may be harmful to the hummers that eat it. If you have a problem attracting hummingbirds just tie a few strips of red cloth the feeder. The color and movement should draw them to your feeder. If you make extra nectar just store it in the refrigerator until you need it. The mixture will keep for a few weeks if kept cold.

Keep putting hummingbird food out even into the fall. The hummingbirds will migrate when they are ready, whether or not you have hummingbird food out. When your feeders are out just before they leave, they can bulk up and be guaranteed energy for their long southern flight.

The effort you put into attracting hummingbirds will be rewarded for years to come. Studies have proved that hummingbirds will come back to the same feeding grounds from year to year.

About the Author:

If you love feeding hummingbirds I want help you attract more of them. Using plants with hummingbird feeders will bring these fascinating birds flocking to your garden. Just apply these easy to follow tips.

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