http://www.care2.com/greenliving/how-to-attract-hummingbirds.html
How to Attract Hummingbirds!
posted by Annie B. Bond Feb 1, 1999 9:57 am
Hummingbirds are pretty, they pollinate flowers, and they can move their
wings faster than any other bird.
If this doesn’t convince you to encourage hummingbirds in your yard, then just do it because they are a beautiful species, and will bring light to your life. Below are some tips to help.
- A birding field guide or a local Audubon Society chapter can help you determine if hummingbirds are normally found in your area and, if so, when.
- Ask your local nursery for advice about local plants that attract hummingbirds. (Columbine, impatiens, flowering eucalyptus, bottlebrush, tree tobacco, sage, honeysuckle, fuchsia, larkspur, trumpet vine, and silk tree are among plants that attract hummingbirds).
- Plant nectar-bearing plants or trees with flowers attractive to hummingbirds.
- Hang hummingbird feeders filled with one part sugar and four parts water around your property. Make sure not to use commercially available hummingbird mixes that are red, since almost all of them are made with synthetic dyes which won’t be good for the birds. Add red to the bird feeder instead (hummingbirds are attracted to red.)
- Clean feeders often. Some experts recommend cleaning your feeders every four days! The reason for cleaning the feeders this often is that fermenting sugar mixtures can make hummingbirds sick.
More from Annie B. Bond (3188 articles available)
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5 comments
add your comment »I live in Northern California and have at least five hummingbirds all day long st my feeder. I feel bad for them because we live new development and there is not a lot of shelter for them. Although we do have milder winters it is cold and rainy. We even had winds over 70 miles an hour last week. Does anyone know if there is some kind of bird house or shelter I could make them?
Thank you
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In very humid hot weather, i clean my feeders every 3 days; when it's cooler and dryer, i find i don't need to clean as often, maybe every 5 days. You can tell when the water starts looking a little cloudy you need to change it or you'll be sickening your hummers and doing more harm than good!
To feed hummers, you really need to be committed to being consistent with the feeding, becus they do rely on it all summer long. Once my hummers arrive in spring, they make multiple daily visits about every 10-15 minutes all day, every day, until they take off for warmer climates come late September.
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I just read where the male humming bird arrives first and that has been the case for me for years, i live in bacliff texas. One male arrives around aug.15, and chases all the other males away.......i hang feeders by my windows with window magnets so the birds won't try to fly thru.......plus it keeps the necter a little cooler than out in the hot sun
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I read that it's not good to add red dye, as it can be harmful to the hummingbirds. Perhaps you could paint the feeder red to attract them. Another thing is that cleaning the feeder is also important to kill off growing mold and microorganisms... and one natural way of cleaning them safely is with a little vinegar then lots of water! =)
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Hummingbird were spotted just last week here in Ottawa so I can hardly wait to use this advice.
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