Making a Hummingbird Friendly Garden

February 2nd, 2010 by Johnson

Hummingbirds can be found all through North and South America and the Caribbean. Well-known for their ability to hover and their unique ability to fly backwards, hummingbirds can hover by rapidly flapping their wings at speeds as fast as 80 times a second.

The Bee Hummingbird is the smallest bird in the world at just 2 grams in weight and two inches long. The largest hummingbird is the Giant Hummingbird at twenty four grams in weight and eight inches long. Hummingbirds have the highest metabolism of any birds and to keep going they must consume their own weight and more in food daily. So that they can do this they have to visit five hundred or more blooms every day to harvest the nectar. They have extended tongues and beaks which allows them to reach deep into the flowers. They are able to slow down their metabolisms when resting, unlike the majority of other high metabolism animals. This lengthens their natural life, which has been reported as long as sixteen years.

Planting A Hummingbird Friendly Garden

To draw hummingbirds to your garden plant brilliantly coloured flowers and bushes. Hummingbirds have a poor sense of smell but they are drawn to bright colours. Placing a feeder specially made for humming birds in your garden or on your deck will be a magnet for these beautiful birds. Some annuals to plant include beard tongue, salvia, petunia, jewelweed, jacobinia, impatiens, and firespike. Some perennial plants include hosta, hummingbird mint, cardinal flower, canna, bee balm and columbine. For bushes and trees choose azalea, buddleia, cape honeysuckle, mimosa, weigela, flame acanthus, lantana, red buckeye and tree tobacco.

Don’t use any insecticides in your garden as this will destroy bugs and insects that hummingbirds eat. They will also leave deposits on the blooms which the hummingbirds could swallow. Also supply plenty of perching places as they spend almost 80% of their time resting on clothes lines, twigs etc. Make available plants that will provide nesting materials to be a focus for the females. They prefer downy nesting material from trees like eucalyptus and willow and from ferns, mosses and lichens.

Hanging vibrantly colored, hummingbird feeders in your backyard will attract the hummingbirds. An excellent scheme is to attach red ribbons that blow around the feeder. It is also a good idea to provide feeders at different heights as hummingbird species all have different preferences. Species that prefer plants that are low growing will go to a feeder sited lower whilst species that feed on taller shrubs and plants will rather go to a feeder sited in a higher position. Hummingbirds are also very territorial and an individual hummingbird may defend a single feeder and stop others from coming near. Set no less than 3 feeders at various heights around your garden.

Hummingbirds love a bath in the mist on plants so you could position a mister close to some broadleaved shrubbery to provide them with a place to bathe.

How to Make Hummingbird Nectar

Make a sweet nectar by mixing together one cup of sugar with 4 cups of pre-boiled water. Let it cool then store in the refrigerator. Nectar that is unused can be stored safely for about 7 days. Thoroughly wash hummingbird feeders once a week by rinsing with a mixture of 1 cup of vinegar in 4 cups of water then rinsing out with clean water. Re-fill with the nectar solution and hang in the shade. Don’t use food colouring or synthetic sweeteners. Also do not use honey as it can ferment and produce a fungus that is harmful. Replace the nectar solution in the feeder every 3 days or oftener in hot, summer weather.

In Conclusion

It’s easy to make a garden that will appeal to these beautiful birds. Give them the food they love and a safe location and hummingbirds will visit your garden frequently.

See more about feeding wild birds and some cheap bird feeders to buy at Garden Bird Feeders or Garden Garden Bird Feeders UK

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