Amazingly humming birds are considered among the most advanced and downright amazing of the creator's creatures when it comes to avian fowl. Hummingbirds are simply amazing with their agility and even bird like powers and abilities.
Hummingbirds usually appear in gardens in early summer, go off to the woods to feed and then return to the city and built up areas as they prepare for their fall time journeys southward.
If you are not a gardener, then you can work to attract these pretty visitors with hummingbird feeders - either home made or commercially bought. These birds will be well attracted to the feeders - even though their preferences are generally for sweet flower nectar and nectars. However what ever you choose to do be sure to change the nectar in the feeder or feeders on a regular and ongoing basis. A good rule of thumb for concocting the nectar solution is one quart of solidly boiled water to one cup of sugar. Make it a point to change the nectar solutions approximately every couple of days. Once the sugar water begins to ferment you are not doing the birds any favor- fermented sugar nectar water is downright hard for these poor little thing's liver to digest.
Along with these suggestions expert avian birders advise even though its pretty do not add colorings - especially red colors - to your sugar nectars. Additionally honey is also harder for the bird's constitutions to deal with than refined sugar bought at your local grocery store.
If you are a gardener - then you can plan now for next years garden so that it will attract these fine creatures. Hummingbirds are selective and really prefer and attracted to certain varieties of plants. Honeysuckle is one such favorite. Next consider the bright red short lived perennial Labelia Cardinalis. This plant itself prefers and flourishes in rich moist soil. Another wise choice is the salvia "Lady in Red". "Lady in Red" luckily blooms early enough in spring time to actually encourage humming birds as they arrive in spring. Hence you can start to prepare now - before the winter season arrives.
Contrary to popular belief and misconceptions, hummingbirds can see all colors of the rainbow spectrum, including some in the ultra violet ranges and not just red colors. The chief reason that they are so prodigious in searching out and scanning each and every flower on their travels and visits is all for that search for their vital source of nutrition and fluids - plant nectars. It is an interesting fact of nature that since many insects basically see poorly at the reddish end of the visible spectrum of light , the red and reddish colored flowers are the least likely to have been emptied of their nectars before the hummingbirds visit and test them. These birds not only like red for that particular reason but also flowers in the blue and bluish ranges of the spectrum.
Hummingbirds are definitely one of the wonders and even joys of nature. These little tiny birds are an inspiration to life as they beat their wings an amazing 700 times a minute and have to feed every ten minutes or so just to stay alive. Yet even more amazing is that on top of that they fly several thousand miles each and every year on their annual seasonal spring and fall time migrations.
