One of the best ways to enjoy the company of your hummingbirds is with a hummingbird garden full of plants that will attract and delight them. It is an excellent way to attract them to your nearby hummingbird feeders as well as providing them with a natural diet. Did you know that over 160 native North American plants depend exclusively on hummingbirds for pollination? No wonder they are kept so busy!
Creating a hummingbird habitat can be as simple as setting out a feeder and having a container or two of plants that they like or as elaborate as creating a place that offers food, water, summer shade, winter refuge, nesting sites, perches and hiding places all at the same time. It is entirely up to you.
You can live in a high-rise apartment and attract hummingbirds if you have a balcony or an outside entryway. They will find you even in the middle of a city.
Backyard habitats can be a small, suburban backyard or a large country garden that will welcome and delight your hummingbird guests. Food is the primary purpose for your hummingbird habitat. Commercial feeders are a great source of food for the hummers but flowers and plant (especially those native to your area) provide high quality nectar. Water is the next element you want to include. They use it mostly for bathing since they satisfy most of their drinking needs from the sugar water in your feeders, or from the nectar itself from the flowers. Water can be provided with a birdbath, a pond or a sprinkler. Make sure the birdbath has a rough surface for good footing and no deeper that 1 ½ inch deep. If it is deeper, place some rocks in the bottom.
Summer shade and possibly winter refuge are design elements you’ll also want to add in, depending on where you live. Perches are an important component to include since most male hummingbirds prefer to have one large tree to use as a strategic lookout post. And females often look for nesting sites 6 to 20 feet above the ground, so keep that in mind during your planting stages.
The final two ingredients to consider are nesting sites and hiding places. Clearly, if you’re in an area where hummers don’t nest, you don’t need to consider nesting sites. Hiding places can be used at night as places to sleep, or as a safe refuge from predators or weather. Hummers will use tall, bushy trees and shrubs as hiding places, as well as structures such as barns and sheds and roof eaves. Peace and quiet is what they want here.
It is really fun and easy to lure these iridescent little charmers to your yard and you’ll be helping to ensure their survival by providing a safe haven for them to return to year after year
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One of the best ways to enjoy the company of your hummingbirds is with a hummingbird garden full of plants that will attract and delight them. It is an excellent way to attract them to your nearby hummingbird feeders as well as providing them with a natural diet. Did you know that over 160 native North American plants depend exclusively on hummingbirds for pollination? No wonder they are kept so busy!
May 29th, 2008 at 4:47 am
Create a Hummingbird Garden | Birds DunRite…
If you want to make your home a bird sanctuary, try to get all the bird products that you need in this site. This site offers a variety of bird products like colorful bird houses and unique bird baths that surely can and will attract bird migrants….
May 29th, 2008 at 4:48 am
Create a Hummingbird Garden | Birds DunRite…
If you want to make your home a bird sanctuary, try to get all the bird products that you need in this site. This site offers a variety of bird products like colorful bird houses and unique bird baths that surely can and will attract bird migrants….