Category: Hummingbird Food

Bright Flowers Mean Sweeter Nectar

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It is probably universally known that hummingbirds are attracted to red, but it turns out that there is a real reason to explain why hummingbirds prefer brightly colored flowers. So what is this reason? In many cases, although there are exceptions, the brighter the flower the sweeter the nectar which is inside it.

I find this discovery quite surprising and interesting. I’m always amazed by the fascinating information which I continually discover on my quest to constantly add to my knowledge of the fascinating creature known as the hummingbird.

This discovery is the kind of fact about hummingbirds that my mom would have enjoyed knowing. I hope you also like it as well. What else would you like to discover about hummingbirds? Let me know and the topic may result in a future post.

Hummingbird Food

Window Boxes Attract Hummingbirds

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Window boxes are a space saving and efficient way to attract way to help you entice the hummingbirds to visit your yard. If this is the method you would like to use to draw them to yard, here are some tips that will help you be much more successful with this endeavor.

These plants can be used in a window box: petunias, salvias, geraniums, dwarf marigolds, verbena and trailing ivy, begonias, fuchsias, impatiens, lobelia, dusty miller, and nasturtium.This is by no means a complete list but rather some suggestions for you to consider.
Although a wide variety of flowers can be packed into a small area, window box plantings are more attractive to hummingbirds when tall background plants, low growing foreground plants and trailing plants are used. Plants of staggered heights and habits are simple to grow and maintain. Include plants with tube shaped blossoms, lots of color and an extended bloom season for the most appeal.
The window box should be easily reached for weeding, watering, adding soil or changing plantings. Since window boxes are usually exposed to full sun, drying winds and the reflected heat of your house, they may require being watered once a day in the summer.
It is possible to purchase ready made window boxes in a variety of inexpensive shapes, sizes and materials. Your best bet is to check out your local garden and home supply stores. Or, you can build the window box yourself from decay-resistant wood. These window boxes can either rest on a windowsill or be fastened to your house in a safe and permanent fashion. The boxes also must be properly supported from the bottom, have l/2-inch drain holes for every foot of box, and a layer of gravel in the bottom to keep lightweight potting soil from washing out.

I hope the use of window boxes is another method of gardening that you will consider using to attract the hummingbirds to your yard. A window box is small and compact but it can still be a very effective tool to encourage the hummingbirds to visit you and then remain around for quite a while. Happy gardening and birdwatching everyone!

Hummingbird Food

Some Hummingbird Garden Basics

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A hummingbird garden is a great way to beautify your yard and attract hummingbirds at the same time. Here below you will find some important things to keep in mind when developing your hummingbird garden.

If you are looking for some suggestions as to what plants to include in you hummingbird garden, the following suggestions are know to be quite effective at attracting hummingbirds: Azaleas, Lantana, Honeysuckle, Morning Glory, Trumpet Vines, Petunias, Scarlet Sage, Shrimp plant, Snap Dragons, and too many others to mention here. These plants are some of my favorites, but it is impossible for me to be sure that all these suggestions will work in your area of the country, so please consult your local plant nursery for further advice on the subject.

Basically speaking, any flowers that produce a good amount of nectar will attract hummingbirds. The hummingbird is looking for a food source that has a good quantity and quality of the nectar which is available. This is why a hummingbird will choose a flower with the highest nectar output and the richest concentration of sugars, regardless of the shape or color of the flower. The taste of the nectar is also far more important than the color of the flower.

You can either create a whole garden which is solely dedicated to the flowers which are preferred by hummingbirds, or you can choose to simply place several types of flowers which are known to attract hummingbirds around your yard and combine this within your existing landscaping.

Using species of plants native to your area is also a great idea. This will help ensure that the plants that you select for your garden have the best opportunity to survive and thrive within your garden.

Pesticides should never be used in a hummingbird garden! A hummingbird can ingest the pesticide while feeding on insects and spiders and this can kill the bird. The use of pesticides also kills the insects and spiders that are a vital and necessary source of protein within the hummingbird’s diet.

Happy gardening and hummingbird watching everyone! Through your efforts you will enhance the beauty of your yard and also help to entice nature’s tiny little “living jewels” to visit and hopefully remain in your yard for a longer period of time. What more could any hummingbird enthusiast want?

Hummingbird Food

Say No to Red Dye in Nectar

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Here’s some very compelling reasons why red dye should not be used in hummingbird nectar. I point these things out not to make you feel bad if you have mistakenly used it in the past but to help you understand why you should no longer do so now.

Red Dye has no nutritional value and therefore it does not benefit the hummingbirds in any way whatsoever.
All red dyes are categorized as "xenobiotics" the same as other pollutants, and therefore stresses the metabolism accordingly [Kuno & Mizutani, 2005].
Red dye masks fermentation thus making it difficult to tell the freshness of a mixture. This may unknowingly cause users to keep the mixture beyond its safety margin since it appears safe to them.
You will not attract a greater number of hummingbirds just because the nectar is colored. The hummingbirds are attracted to red flowers, not red nectar, so the feeder, not the food, should be red.
Red dye is believed to cause a large number of potential problems to hummingbirds. Other mammals who received does of red40 in smaller amounts found in nectar powder had the following problems: DNA damage, lowered rates of fertility, increase in tumors, lethargy, and other health problems. Hummingbirds are such extremely tiny birds, so one can only assume that red40 would also be extremely harmful to the birds also.

It is just as easy to make nectar without dye in it so please do so. You will still attract the birds that you enjoy so much and you will know that you are doing your part to ensure their health.

Hummingbird Food

Flower Selection: Trial and Error

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Hummingbirds learn by trial and error which flowers will provide the greatest amout of nectar. This is surprising, to me, because hummingbirds have the ability to see into the ultra-violet rannge, so I figured this was the explaination for their choice of a partular flower. The ideal colors to attract hummingbirds are red, orange and pink, but others will do a good job as well.

Tubular flowers are known to be a favorite with hummingbirds, because the shape of these flowers make it easy to use their beaks to probe within the flower for the nectar. Usually, tubular flowers are known for holding a large amount of nectar at the base.

Another important consideration when designing your hummingbird garden is that the plants you select should have various bloom times. The goal is to provide the hummingbirds with a natural food source and thus entice the birds to remain around for as long a possible. The hummingbirds will be nesting from March through September so during this time the birds will need a depenable food source. Due to their very agressive and territorial nature, hummingbirds will vigorously defend a food source, so it may help if you have more then one area in your yard that is designed to attract the hummingbirds. This will help to ensure that several hummingbirds can be feeding at the same time.