Category: Hummingbird Food

Categories
Hummingbird Feeders Hummingbird Food

Why Hummingbirds Aren’t Visiting Your Feeders

Many people who put up hummingbird feeders may still not be attracting the birds or maybe they were at one time attracting the birds only to have them stop visiting their feeders. This is a situation that can be very complex. The information which follows should offer some insight into this matter.
 
One explanation could be that you live in an area that is a poor hummingbird habitat. This simply means that you live in an area that has few flowers, trees, or shrubs that hummingbirds like and therefore few of the birds visit the area.
 
Another explanation is that you live in too good a habitat. If there are too many plants, flowers, or shrubs in your area which attract hummingbirds, then the birds may have no need to visit the feeders in the area. Simply put, the natural food supply is available with such abundance that alternate food sources aren’t necessary. 
 
There may be hummingbirds in the area but they may not be interested in your feeders. It is possible for individual hummingbirds to develop their own particular feeding patterns and be influenced by their prior experiences.
 
Another simple explanation why there are no hummingbirds at your feeder is because it is breeding season. The birds may have gone elsewhere to do their breeding.
 
The feeding solution in your feeder may have fermented or gone sour. Generally speaking, the feeder should be cleaned every two to three days. In very hot weather, which is considered to be temperatures above 60 degrees F., feeders should be cleaned every two days, and then fresh sugar solution should be added. If you leave your feeders empty for too long or if your feeding solution has gone bad and you don’t change it out with fresh solution, then the birds may not return because of this.
 
You also may not be looking when the hummingbirds arrive. If there are few hummingbirds in your area, it would be quite easy for you to miss seeing them because they spend very little amounts of their time feeding.
 
Hummingbird feeders are a very common way to try and attract these birds. In order to draw hummingbirds to your feeders, you will want to hang the feeders near nectar-rich flowers, shrubs, and trees that the hummingbirds are instinctively drawn towards. Then you will have the best of all possible worlds, because the birds can choose between your hummingbird feeders or the flowers, trees, and shrubs that attract them.
Categories
Hummingbird Feeders Hummingbird Food

Sugar Water as Hummingbird Food

Probably the easiest way to attract hummingbirds to your yard is by filling your bird feeder with a sugar water hummingbird food.  This is a simple and nice gesture towards these extremely agile and pretty little creatures that come into your yard or garden.

Hummingbirds are amazing creatures that expend an astounding amount of energy every day. Hummingbirds are extremely small birds, typically weighing between 3 and 7 grams, but they require an abundance of energy in order to live. This is because their activity level is extremely high, and their biological clock runs incredibly fast. The heartbeat rate of a flying hummingbird may reach up to more than 1200 beats per minute!

It is due to their astonishing level of activity and also their heartbeat rate that hummingbirds must feed so very frequently, flying from flower to flower gathering nectar, which is the main source of their energy. Nectar contains, in addition to water, sucrose, glucose and fructose, all of which are different forms of sugar. So a sugar water hummingbird food is as close to their natural diet as you can get.

Hummingbirds are voracious eaters, and they have to eat between 5 and 14 times every hour. The stomach capacity of a hummingbird is quite small, and therefore it cannot hold too much food at once. That is why they must feed very frequently so as not to starve. At any given moment during the period of activity, they are only a few hours away from death by starvation! The need to be frequently acquiring food is a major survival issue for them.  This is especially true in today’s society when concrete jungles are extending and wiping out forests, trees and flowers.

A tipical human being normally eats about 2% to 4% of their own weight every day. The hummingbird must eat,under normal circumstances, more than 500% of its own body weight everyday just in order to survive! Providing a high-energy sugar water hummingbird food in your bird feeder is one of the best gestures of kindness that you can make towards these exquisite creatures of the air.

Categories
Hummingbird Food

Liatris: Attract Bees, Butterflies and Hummingbirds

Liatris is a North American native prairie plant that is known to attract bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. The plants are easy to care for and they can be used to fill in around the bottom or early-blooming perennials. If you have not heard of this flower before, then maybe you will want to consider planting this plant in your own backyard as another plant that will help attract the hummingbirds to your yard. 
 
Liatris comes in many colors including purple, rose and white. This plant is also known as blazing star and gayfeather. There is plenty to like about this flower. It is easy to start from bulbs, which you can order from a catalog, or it can be grown from seed. This plant is also likely to be found at your local plant nursery. 
 
This plant blooms from midsummer to fall, and it will grow in zones 3-9 of the country. It will grow to be up to five feet tall and 18 inches in width. This plant grows best in the sun, but it will tolerate patricidal shade. Most varieties of this plant prefer well drained soil, but various other varieties will tolerate both dry and damp soil. This plant can be planted during the spring or fall.  
 
This plant is known to be extremely reliable. This plant will bloom again year after year, and many times it will reseed itself. The flowers are often attractive additions to flowers bouquets, because they have a long vase life, nearly two weeks. 
 
It is native to northeastern North America and occurs in mashes, prairies, and meadows. There are more than 30 species of Liatris, with Liatris Spicata being the most common type of this flower.
 
This plant was appreciated by the early settlers and Native Americans for their medicinal qualities. It was used to create diuretics, expectorants and analgesics. It was also used to create balms, powers, teas and tonics that would help stimulate the vascular system, help with backache pain and cure sore throats.
 
Today herbalists use the leaves of this plant in sachets, potpourris and even insect reppellants. They also use it to relieve colic and kidney problems.
 
Liatris is a plant that will attract bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. It is quite easy to grow and will add a great deal of color to your yard while serving to entice the hummingbirds in your area. Why not add this plant to your yard? 
  
 
 
Categories
Hummingbird Food

Bee Balm

Bee Balm is also known by the species name Mindarda didyma. The plant serves both edible and medicinal purposes. It can also be used effectively to attract hummingbirds. With the name bee balm, one could easily assume that this plant would more effectively draw bees rather then hummingbirds, but this is not the case because the bees have great difficulty getting to the nectar.

Native Americans have used Bee Balm as a form of medicine for a long time. They have believed for a long time that bee balm could be used to cure minor skin infections and to help heal minor wounds. The plant also possesses strong antiseptic qualities. The plant can also be used and brewed into a tea that can be used to treat throat infections and dental conditions such as gingivitis and other dental conditions. Bee Balm is a natural source of Thymol, which is the main ingredient in modern mouthwash.  

There are many uses of Bee Balm. It is edible when used as a pot herb, and it is also used as a flavoring in cooked foods. The flowers make an attractive edible garnish in salads. The plant is noted for its fragrance, and is a source of oil of thyme. Bee Balm is said to have a flavor very similar to Oregano.   The fresh or dried leaves are brewed into a refreshing aromatic and medicinal tea. An infusion of young Bee Balm leaves used to form a common beverage in many parts of the United States. This plant has also been known to be planted with tomatoes and has had positive effects on the flavor. Yes, humans have been known to consume this plant, but it is the hummingbird that is the biggest fan of this plant.

Various reports and studies indicate that this plant is among the favorite, if not the favorite, plant of hummingbirds to eat. So if you are looking to attract hummingbirds through the use of plants rather then using a hummingbird feeder, this is the plant for you that will have the hummingbirds swarming to your yard.
 
This plant is one that is strong and does well with other plants. This plant does well in difficult climates and can be found throughout most of the United States. This plant can add a source of color to your vegetable garden when you mix it in with tomatoes or other plants typically found in a vegetable garden.
 
If you wish to grow Bee Balm, here are some tips that will help ensure your success with this plant. It is easily grown in ordinary garden soil and it also grows well in heavy clay soils. It should be planted somewhere that has part shade to sunny place to grow. This species thrives when grown in a dry soil and prefers alkaline soil conditions. Bee Balm is best started from plants which spread like crazy, but will grow from seed as well. Unfortunately, it often gets spotted with a mold like affliction. 
 
This plant is a unique way to attract hummingbirds to your yard and it is also an herb that offers many health benefits. Why not give it a try? You and the hummingbirds will be glad you did. 
 
Categories
Hummingbird Food

The Amazing Metoblism of the Hummingbird

It is a well known fact that hummingbirds have a very fast metabolism, but have you ever considered how that compares with a human’s? If the average man’s metabolism was comparable to that of a hummingbird, he would have to eat 285 pounds of hamburger every day in order to maintain his weight. That is astonishing! If we had to eat that much every single day just to survive think of how much we would weigh.  It may also surprise you to know that a hummingbird can starve to death in as little as two hours. This is why the hummingbird will eat between 5-8 times per hour with each feeding lasting about 30 seconds in length.