If you are a person who has always wanted a wide variety of tips on how to successfully attract hummingbirds to your yard, this video offers you some step by step tips to help you do so. These tips are easy to understand and follow, so you do not need any prior knowledge of hummingbirds to be able to use them successfully. Happy hummingbird watching everyone!
Category: Hummingbird Food
Hummingbird feeders are one way to attract hummingbirds to your yard. The use of a feeder requires proper maintenance and cares with it a great deal of responsibility. This post will provide some important reminders concerning hummingbird feeders and homemade hummingbird food.
A hummingbird feeder should not be placed in direct sunlight, as this causes the sugar solution to spoil rapidly. Also, a plastic feeder that is exposed to direct sunlight will ware out more quickly because the prolonged exposure will cause the plastic to crack eventually.
Be sure to place the hummingbird feeder high enough on a branch so that squirrels and other predators cannot feed from it
Use only a mixture of sugar and water to feed the hummingbirds. The recipe is 1 part water to 4 parts water. This blend is very close to the sugar concentration which is found on many flowers which are known to attract hummingbirds.
Nothing other then white table sugar should be used to make homemade nectar solution. Never use honey, molasses or any other artificial sweeteners to feed hummingbirds. Though they eat small insects for protein, hummingbirds also rely heavily on flower and prepared nectar for their energy needs.
The star flower or star cluster is a flower which is known to successfully attract hummingbirds. This post will tell you about this flower and help you understand why you would want to consider using it in your yard to attract the hummingbirds
The star flower or star cluster is available in a wide variety of colors including lavender, white; multiple shades multiple shades of pink, and even red. You can also get this plant in full-size and dwarf varieties, so whichever variety you choose is a personal decision.
When you are choosing a flower to put in your yard to entice the hummingbirds why not get one which has multiple assets. These are some that I would look for when choosing a flower. I would want it to bloom profusely year-round, grow without needing much care, attract wildlife, work well as a cut flower and have a wonderful fragrance. The star flower or star cluster satisfies all my personal preferences except for its lack of fragrance.
You will want to plant the star flower or star cluster in loamy, moderately moist soil. It will then grow very quickly and have an abundance of blooms in a single summer. Cut blooms can be used in flower arrangements. .
To propagate the star flower or star cluster all you will need to do is the following. Trim the bloom and most of the leaves off a soft-stemmed shoot and dip the stem in rooting formula before pressing it into potting soil. Then it will need to be kept in a shady, moist location. This will cause the cutting to develop roots which are deep and strong enough to sustain the plant on its own.
This plant often seems to act like a magnet for attracting hummingbirds. Why not consider adding this plant to your landscape? You will be glad you did and so will the hummingbirds that you wish to attract.
If you are not sure that the star flower or star cluster can be grown where you live, you will then want to consult your local plant nursery for further information. If you have any additional questions regarding this plant they will also be able to provide you with the answers you seek.
A good nectar source is very important. Many people who are avid gardeners or even those of you who just think hummingbird feeder maintenance requires too much work or is just too time consuming, may wish to provide the hummingbirds a source of nectar through the use of live plants. The reason for this is that the use of live plants requires far less maintenance than a hanging feeder.
The Trumpet Vine, or Trumpet Creeper is one such vine that many people use to attract the hummingbirds to their yard. It is a vine with reddish orange trumpet-shaped blooms all summer long. A word of caution here, Trumpet Vine will take over an area quickly. This vine should be planted away from the house and on a very sturdy trellis or arbor where its beauty can be enjoyed without it taking over the landscape of your yard. This vine will need to be pruned regularly.
Through the use of this vine, you will be adding some beauty and color to your yard, as well as providing a natural source of nectar to the hummingbirds. Yes, this will require some effort to maintain but not as much or as frequently as a hummingbird feeder. If you are a gardener or just someone who wants to attract hummingbirds through the use of a natural nectar source, why not consider the Trumpet Vine or Trumpet Creeper? If you are not sure this vine will grow where you live, please consult a local plant nursery where you live for further information.
The sugar found in nectar solution is a great source of energy for the hummingbird, which has a 97 percent rate of efficiency for converting it into energy. Astonishingly, the hummingbird will completely digest natural sucrose (sugar) in only 20 minutes.
If you have ever wondered about the energy needs of the hummingbird, it may shock you to discover that the hummingbird will require one and a half times its body weight in nectar to meet its daily energy needs. The amount of nectar that a hummingbird will require varies from day to day and can be affected by a wide range factors including activity level, air temperature, quality of available resources, and time of year.
The quantity and quality of the nectar which is available is extremely important to a hummingbird. This is why the hummingbird will select the 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 then the specific color of the flower.