How to attract hummingbirds to your home.
Hummingbirds
How cute are hummingbirds? Having the opportunity to see one often seems like a special treat because they are so rare. Wouldn't you like to have feeders, flowers, and plants growing in your garden that help attract these adorable little creatures? For those of us in the States, May is the beginning of the arrival of many hummingbirds on migration, so get ready!
Keeping in mind
Hummingbirds have little to no sense of smell, so it is not the smelly flowers that attract them, but the bright, and colorful ones! It is the nectar that they want, so naturally occurring wildflowers (free of hybrids) will also help attract more hummingbirds.
Hummingbirds are also relatively territorial, so if you have only one feeder, or multiple feeders close to one another, and a number of different hummingbirds, you might want to spread your feeders out so that more birds have a better chance of filling up! And you'll have more chances to see more hummingbirds!
Trees and Shrubs
- Red Buckeye
- Azalea
- Flame Acanthus
- Cape Honeysuckle
- Crabapple
- Eucalyptus
Flowers
- Bleeding hearts
- Coral bells
- Fire spike
- Bee balm
- Butterfly bush
- Different species of salvia
Make your own nectar
Boil sugar & water in a 1:2 part ratio until well mixed and then cool!
Nectar should not be left in your feeder any more than 5 days.
More Information
www.hummingbirds.net has a great collection of everything one needs to know about preparing for hummingbirds.
They note that it is especially important not to use pesticides if you are trying to attract hummingbirds because these little guys also love to eat certain bugs in your garden!
