Hummingbirds are very unique little birds that almost look like large insects.  There are over 350 kinds worldwide. They are attracted to red feeders as they resemble some of the flower colors they consume the nectar from.  They are mostly attracted to red and orange.  They are not attracted to the scent of flowers as they have very little sense of smell.  These little creatures can bring so much enjoyment in your backyard so make sure you have a pair of binoculars to watch them up close.

As these hummingbirds weigh very little, its eggs are the tiniest as well.  These birds can range from 3-5 inches long. Although they enjoy the food from the feeders, they have a large variety of insects that they feed on such as mosquitos, ants, and flies.  This makes them a welcome bird as they will eat the insects that bother us in our yard like fruit flies. You will see them often because they eat small meals at a time because of their size.

These birds do not make use of bird houses but they make a nest in tree branches as their home.  Since they make high use of their wings constantly and burn up tremendous energy, they need to eat half their weight every day. Some hummingbirds will migrate to warmer weather  as late as October.

 Habits:

Hummingbirds are very aggressive. They will fight for their feeding area. They will chase, dive at, even stab at for their feeding grounds. Being tiny does not make them weak. The strength of their wings allows them to fly backwards, dive at 60 mph, and soar at 30 mph.This is due to the fact that they have so much power in their chest muscles. They are not a mate for life type of bird so the female is often alone. 

 Names:

These birds have been around for a long time and so they have many nick names.  Some of those names are Sungod birds, flying jewels, lamp bird, torch bearer.

 Dangers:

The most dangerous thing to hummingbirds is pesticides since they are so small. Lack of food is also a danger in areas where the feeding ground is being destroyed by building. Some of the predators that feed on these birds are hawks, roadrunners and orioles.

Some common garden plants and flowers that hummingbirds like Hosta, Snapdragon and Morning Glory. Some vines that they like are trumpet vine, honey suckle, and canary creeper. You can purchase hummingbird vines or grow them yourself.  You will need a trellis or something for the vine to grow on. This will add more incentive for the birds to come to your yard.They even like some shrubs like the butterfly bush and mimosa. It may surprise you that they enjoy some herbs like Bee Balm, mint, and goldenrod. It’s nice to know that those useful herbs that we love will benefit these little creatures too!

 Hummingbird feeders make it very easy to attract them to your yard. You don’t have to buy commercial food as you can make it yourself.

Recipe:

¼ cup white sugar

1 cup of boiling water

 Pour sugar into boiling water and stir until dissolved. No added color is necessary and it really isn’t good to give it to them.

 Cleaning feeders:

Make sure you change the food in your feeders every 5 days or if the temperature is in the 70’s more often. Sanitizing the feeder is necessary between feedings with boiling water to kill bacteria.

You can identify hummingbirds for your state at:

http://www.hummingbirds.net/species.html