|
|
How to Attract Hummingbirds
by Marilyn Pokorney
Planting a garden full of red flowers is the best way to attract these
beautiful jeweled birds.
Plant bee balm, butterfly weed, columbine, cardinal Flower, coral bells,
cosmos, dahlias, four-o'-clock's, fuchsias, morning glory, petunias,
zinnias, trumpet vine, or honeysuckle. A web search will reveal many
more.
Be a hummingbird magnet by having as much red in your backyard as
possible. Besides flowers use gazing balls, backyard furniture, ribbons,
and other yard decorations.
Create both sun and shade areas in your hummingbird garden. Offer an
abundance of nesting materials to encourage nesting females.
Hummingbirds prefer downy like materials, spider webs, ferns, moss and
lichens for their nests. Make certain that there is always fresh water
available for drinking as well as for bathing. Set up misters.
Hummingbirds love to take "leaf baths," rubbing against wet leaves or
just sitting on a branch having the mist fall upon them.
Avoid pesticides. These chemicals kill the insects that hummingbirds eat
for protein and can also sicken or kill the birds.
Add plenty of places for the birds to perch. Hummingbirds spend around
80% of their time sitting on twigs, shrubs, and other available resting
places.
Provide red hummingbird feeders hung about thirty feet apart throughout
your yard. Never fill your feeders with anything but a sugar-water mix
of 1 part white sugar to 4 parts boiled water. Do not use food coloring
or artificial sweeteners of any kind, and never use honey which can
develop a fungus which can be fatal to hummingbirds.
Clean and refill the feeders every 3 days. More often if temperatures
are above 85 degrees F.
Hang the feeders on a pole in a flower bed or on a porch or deck near
flowers hummingbirds are attracted to.
You can also tie 18 to 24 inch strips of red ribbon to the feeder. The
blowing ribbons will make it easier for the hummingbirds to see.
Place feeders at various heights. Some hummingbird species like to feed
at heights of 12 to 15 feet, while others feed on low growing flowers
and prefer feeders placed closer to
the ground.
Avoid hanging feeders in direct sunlight, which will cause nectar to
spoil more quickly.
Once a week the feeder must be washed with a vinegar and water solution
and scrubbed clean.
Create a separate feeder for Bees and wasps. Fill it with a mixture of
3:1 or even a 2:1 ratio of water to sugar. The insects have a very
strong preference for rich, high-sugar mixtures and will quickly decide
to use the feeder with the higher sugar content.
To repel ants, apply vinegar or powdered cloves to ant trails. Put
adhesive tape applied sticky-side-out to the hanging wire. Experts
advise that petroleum jelly not be used because the greasy substance
gets onto the birds and make it hard for the birds to clean their
feathers properly. Use ant traps instead.
About the author
Copyright: 2005 Marilyn Pokorney. For more information visit:
http://www.apluswriting.net/garden/hummingbird.htm
|
|
