Hummingbirds are found throughout the Americas including the Caribbean. Famous for their ability to hover and their skill at flying backwards, hummingbirds hover by rapidly flapping their wings at high speeds up to 80 times a second.

The Bee Hummingbird is the smallest bird in the world at only two inches long and weighing around 2 grams. The Giant Hummingbird is the largest hummingbird at 24 grams and approximately 8 inches long. All the hummingbirds have the fastest metabolism of all birds and to sustain this they have to eat more than their own weight in food daily. To do this they must visit many hundreds of flowers a day to gather the nectar. They have long tongues and bills so they can reach deep into the flowers. They are able to decrease their metabolisms when still, unlike the majority of other high metabolism animals. This lengthens their lifespan, which can be as long as seventeen years.

Planting A Garden Friendly to the Hummingbirds

To draw hummingbirds to your garden plant brilliantly colored bushes and flowers. Hummingbirds have very little sense of smell but they are attracted to intense colours. Placing a a speciality hummingbird feeder in your garden or on your terrace will be a focus for these charming birds. Plant annuals include salvia, petunia, impatiens, firespike and jewelweed. Perennial plants include hosta, hummingbird mint, cardinal flower, canna, bee balm and columbine. For bushes and trees select azalea, buddleia, cape honeysuckle, mimosa, weigela, flame acanthus, lantana, red buckeye and tree tobacco.

Do not use any insecticides in your garden as you will destroy bugs and insects that hummingbirds eat. They also leave deposits on flowers which the hummingbirds could swallow. Also supply lots of perching places as they spend approximately 80% of their time sitting on clothes lines, twigs etc. Supply plants that will provide materials for nesting to attract female hummingbirds. Hummingbirds favor soft nesting material from trees like eucalyptus and willow and from lichens and mosses.

Placing vibrantly colored, speciality feeders in your backyard will attract the hummingbirds. A good suggestion is to fix red ribbons that will blow all around the feeder. It is also helpful to provide hummingbird feeders at different heights as hummingbird species all have distinctive preferences. Species that prefer plants that are low growing will visit a feeder positioned lower whereas species that feed on taller plants and shrubs will choose to visit a feeder sited in a higher position. Hummingbirds are also extremely territorial and one hummingbird might defend a single feeder and prevent other birds from approaching. Place at least 3 feeders at various heights all around your garden.

Hummingbirds love a bath in the mist on foliage so you could place a mister near to some broadleaved shrubbery to provide them with a bathing place.

Making Hummingbird Nectar

Make a sweet nectar by blending together a cup of sugar and 4 cups of water that has been boiled. Let it cool then keep in the fridge. Unused nectar can be kept safely for up to seven days. Carefully wash hummingbird feeders weekly by rinsing with a solution of one cup of vinegar to four cups of water then washing out with plain water. Re-fill with the sugar solution and hang in a out of the sun. Don’t use any synthetic sweeteners or food colouring. Also don’t use honey as it may ferment and create a fungus that is harmful. Replace the nectar in your feeder every 3 days or oftener when the weather is hotter.

Conclusion

It is easy to make a garden that will appeal to these attractive birds. Give them the food they love and a secure setting and hummingbirds will come to your garden time and again.

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