Saturday, May 19, 2012

How to attract hummingbirds to your yard

Nice, I already have tulip poplars in my yard. I'm glad they provide food for hummiingbirds. They are so tall, and the flowers are mostly so high up I haven't seen any hummingbirds that might be feeding on them. Sad thing is that one of the trees was struck by lightning a couple of years ago. But it fell between my home and the one next door, so at least my home was not damaged when it fell.

http://www.mnn.com/your-home/organic-farming-gardening/stories/how-to-attract-hummingbirds-to-your-yard

By Tom Oder Thu, May 10 2012 at 2:22 PM EST

A hummingbird habitat consists of flowers, shrubs and trees that produce nectar and, ideally, a mist-type water feature. Nectar is a liquid rich in sugar that attracts various pollinators, such as bees, moths and hummingbirds. A hummingbird habitat is different from a garden because a habitat provides a place for the tiny birds to feed, hide from predators, nest and raise their young, according to Bill Hilton Jr.

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How do I know if a plant produces nectar?
One way is to observe the plants already in your yard to see what birds or insects are visiting them, Hilton said. You can also check with local extension services or nurseries or research plants online.

Are some plants especially attractive to hummingbirds?
Yes. Based on decades of research and observation, Hilton has compiled a list of what he considers 10 of the ruby-throated hummingbird’s favorite native flowers, shrubs and vines that grow in its North American breeding range.

Here’s Hilton’s list, ranked in order of preference:

Trumpet creeper, Campsis radicans
Beebalm or Oswego tea, Monarda didyma
Trumpet honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens
Cardinal flower, Lobelia cardinalis
Spotted jewelweed, Impatiens capensis
Red columbine, Aquilegia canadense
Canada lily, Lilium canadense
Indian pink, Spigelia marilandica
Red buckeye, Aesculus pavia
Mountain rosebay or Catawba rhododendron, Rhododendron catawbiense


One of the reasons these plants made his list rather than others is because many of them grow in almost all of the states where the ruby-throat breeds, Hilton says. He cited trumpet creeper as an example.

Other native plants that provide flowers for hummingbirds may already be growing in your yard, including tulip poplars (Liriodendron tulipifera) and sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum), he added.

Hilton has also compiled a top 10 list of exotics plants, not all of which are cold-hardy, that attract hummingbirds.

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Hummingbirds are a gardener’s friend, Hilton said, because they feed on insects such as gnats, mosquitoes and aphids, which provide fats and protein. Sometimes they glean the insects from bark or foliage and other times they will dart to and from a perch to feast on a cloud of gnats.

Can I still hang out a hummingbird feeder?
Of course. The time to do that is roughly from St. Patrick’s Day to Halloween, Hilton said.

He describes the ruby-throat as a cold-weather wimp. Using Atlanta as a yardstick for the East Coast, he says the birds usually will not show up in the South’s largest metro region until St. Patrick’s Day and will generally have left for their winter home in Central America by the end of October. Hummingbird enthusiasts south of Atlanta can plan on the birds showing up a little earlier than St. Patrick’s Day and those further up the East Coast can add a week or more depending on their location.

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