Hummingbirds are mystical and magical as they flutter, hover, dodge, dart and just simply seem to play. They decorate your garden like tiny, darting jewels dancing from blossom to blossom. Want to learn how to draw these little beauties to your garden? We’ll start out with some basic ideas and invite your questions to further help you.
Just a little history – there are more than 340 species of hummingbirds throughout the world, and they are all found in the western hemisphere. Affectionately called “hummers” by those who have adopted these mesmerizing creatures as their personal garden mascots, they are among the most fascinating of all birds, most of all because of their unique physical attributes. Ounce for ounce hummingbirds have the largest brain, heart, energy output and breast muscles in proportion to body size of any bird. They are the only bird that can fly backward, forward, sideways and hover in midair. They can accomplish this because their wings rotate completely at the shoulder; other birds have only limited rotation abilities in the shoulder joint. They are the only bird who gets flight power from the upstroke of their wing, as well as the down stroke.
Their wings beat an incredible 20 to 200 strokes per second, and their hearts beat 1,000 times a minute! They inhale 250 times a minute and their metabolic rate is so high it must be fed constantly. This astonishing metabolic rate is maintained almost entirely from flower nectar and the sugar water in hummingbird feeders, although for protein and other essential nutrients they also nibble on tiny insects and spiders.
Now that we understand the need for food, the best way to attract hummingbirds to your garden is to have a combination of plants and feeders. For now, let’s talk about feeders: where to place them, how to clean them and what to use in them. Hummingbird feeders come in all shapes and sizes. There is an erroneous belief that hummingbirds are only attracted to red flowers – that’s not true, since they’ll feed at any flower that has enough nectar to interest them, but red feeders will attract them so go for some red.
Hummingbirds are fiercely territorial, so if you’re finding that your hummers are squabbling and breaking out in fistfights over the feeders, try placing them in different locations in your yard, preferably out of sight of each other.
Where should you hang your feeder? The ideal location is right over a bed of hummingbird attracting plants. That way, your guests have a choice of menu items. If you haven’t yet planted your garden, try hanging a hummingbird feeder from the eaves of your house or apartment, out of direct sunlight. If you have a large yard, place several in different locations, hanging from trees or on fences using brackets, keeping safety from predators in mind. One note to make about hanging a feeder near a window – many people want to enjoy the sights and sounds of hummers feeding—that’s kind of the whole point of hanging a feeder, isn’t it? If you place your feeder near a window, keep in mind some kind of shielding to avoid the possibility of hummers flying into the glass and hurting themselves.
Hummingbird Feeders must be cleaned regularly ! Pick a location for your feeder that is out of direct sunlight, especially hot afternoon sun. On days in excess of 100 degrees, change the solution every day. In cooler weather, change it at least twice a week. If the solution turns cloudy in the feeder, that means it’s spoiled and needs to be replaced. Every time you change the solution, flush the feeder out with hot tap water. Do NOT use soap! At least once a month, clean the feeder by soaking it in a bleach bath consisting of ¼ cup of bleach to 1 gallon of water. Soak the entire feeder for an hour, then scrub with a bottle brush. Rinse well with running water. Fill your hummingbird feeder with a mixture of 4 parts water to one part white cane sugar. Some experts contend that hummingbirds know the difference between beet sugar and cane sugar. So if you’re having a problem with attracting hummers and you are using beet sugar, try switching to cane sugar and see what happens.
More questions, just e-mail me and we will do our best to help you. Happy Humming!
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, May 7th, 2008 at 5:15 pm and is filed under Bird Information.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Hummingbirds are mystical and magical as they flutter, hover, dodge, dart and just simply seem to play. They decorate your garden like tiny, darting jewels dancing from blossom to blossom. Want to learn how to draw these little beauties to your garden? We’ll start out with some basic ideas and invite your questions to further help you.
May 8th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
[…] am Views: 12 Comments: 0.teachertube Videos (Most Recent RSS Feed) - http://www.teachertube.com|||Fascinating Little Creatures Called HummingbirdsHummingbirds are mystical and magical as they flutter, hover, dodge, dart and just simply seem to […]
May 8th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
[…] Fascinating Little Creatures Called HummingbirdsHummingbirds are mystical and magical as they flutter, hover, dodge, dart and just simply seem to play. They decorate your garden like tiny, darting jewels dancing from blossom to blossom. Want to learn how to draw these little beauties …Birds DunRite - http://www.birdsdunriteblog.com […]
May 8th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
[…] am Views: 12 Comments: 0.teachertube Videos (Most Recent RSS Feed) - http://www.teachertube.com|||Fascinating Little Creatures Called HummingbirdsHummingbirds are mystical and magical as they flutter, hover, dodge, dart and just simply seem to […]
May 8th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
[…] wing fly Added: May 7, 2008, 11:32 am Views: 12 Comments: 0.Untitled - http://www.teachertube.com|||Fascinating Little Creatures Called HummingbirdsHummingbirds are mystical and magical as they flutter, hover, dodge, dart and just simply seem to […]
May 29th, 2008 at 5:00 am
Fascinating Little Creatures Called Hummingbirds | Birds DunRite…
If you are a bird watcher, here’s the best news you’ll be hearing. You now can enjoy bird watching within the confinement of your backyard since in this site; you’ll be gazing through an amazing line of bird products that surely will attract any…