This easy to understand video offers some simple tips on how to properly clean and maintain your hummingbird feeder. It is extremely important to do so to ensure that you do not cause harm to the hummingbirds that visit your yard.
Author: Hummingbird
The life of the hummingbird is not without challenges today. As human population and development is ever expanding, the hummingbird’s natural habitat is quickly decreasing in size, their breeding grounds are being lost and even their migration routs are changing.
The good news is that hummingbirds seem to be a favorite among gardeners and birdwatchers. The reason for this fondness may be due to the bird’s seer beauty or feisty nature. Regardless, hummingbirds are fortunate because they have developed the ability to adapt and find food in our gardens or at our hummingbird feeders.
My point is that often we humans are responsible for the loss of wildlife due to our destroying their habitat. Progress and development are often necessary in today’s society, but let’s each do what we can to try and ensure the survival of these birds. While no one has all the answers as to how to do this, there are simple things that we each can do to provide help to the hummingbirds. Each of us can plant flowers or plants which are known to attract hummingbirds and/or it is also easy to provide hummingbird feeders which will provide an alternate food source for the hummingbirds.
Just because you want to attract hummingbirds does not mean that you must have hummingbird feeders in your yard to accomplish this endeavor. The use of flowers and plants are a great natural way to attract hummingbirds to your yard. There are even some advantages to using flowers and plants rather then using hummingbird feeders. This post will explain why flowers are such an effective way to draw the hummingbirds to your yard.
Many people would say that caring for flowers is a far easier thing to do rather then caring for hummingbird feeders. Here are a few reasons why. The flowers are easier to manage then the feeders because the flowers do not require that you clean them or refill with nectar solution. Also, keep in mind that by planting flowers which are known to attract hummingbirds, you will be adding color and beauty to your yard as well as adding the pleasant aroma of these flowers to the air.
Flowers are also known to draw insects and spiders. These are sources of protein for the hummingbird and this is vital to the hummingbird’s survival because it cannot survive on nectar alone. Also, many flowers and plants depend on the hummingbird to pollinate it and without this assistance these flowers and plants would not be able to reproduce.
Do not feel guilty if you would rather draw the hummingbirds to your yard with flowers and plants instead of the use of hummingbird feeders. You are not alone in this choice and there are advantages to this choice. Regardless, you will still find that plenty of hummingbirds will visit your yard.
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Hummingbirds as Pollinators
Hummingbirds serve as very important pollinators. The hummingbird’s ability as a pollinator is often said to be quite comparable to that of the bee. This post will explain why the hummingbird is such a vital pollinator.
Hummingbirds are such vital pollinators are because honeybees (European in origin) are in a state of decline.
So, I will not explain how hummingbirds pollinate. The act of pollination occurs while the hummingbird is feeding and the bird thrust its bill deep into a flower, collecting pollen on their bill and feathers. As a result, at each subsequent flower the bird visits, it leaves a little pollen and picks up some new, spreading pollen from flower to flower. The seeds and fruits resulting from their endeavors later feed other birds and mammals which then distribute the seeds to help create the next plant generation.
It is due to the hummingbird’s long, tubular bill, its unique hovering skills, and the ability to fly backward and even upside-down, the hummingbird has the unsurpassed ability to pollinate plants with long, tubular blossoms. This is quite important because the shape of these type blossoms makes it difficult for some bees and other larger pollinators to reach the pollen deep within the flower. Therefore, without the aid of the hummingbird many of these plants or flowers would not survive. Scientists even believe that our native tubular-flowered Penstemons, sages (Salvias), columbines, and certain other native plants, have evolved together with the hummingbirds, thus enhancing each others’ likelihood of survival.
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How Do Hummingbirds Spend a Day?
Have you ever wondered how a hummingbird spends its time during the day? What you will discover from reading this post will quite possibly surprise or even shock you. When I first read this information myself, I was initially in a state of disbelief, but upon doing further research I found that other sources seemed to support this information.
This is the type of unique information about hummingbirds that my mom certainly would have enjoyed discovering. Since my mom is no longer living, I thought that I would share it will all of my readers who want to know more about hummingbirds. Hope you enjoy the information.
Contrary to popular belief, hummingbirds do not spend the majority of their time flying. In fact, hummingbirds only spend an average of 10-15% of their time feeding and 75-80% sitting and digesting. As for the remaining percentage, it was not known how that was used by the hummingbirds.
You should now have a better understanding of how the hummingbird spends its time during the day. Did this come as a surprise to you?