Got Hummers?

For many people, hummingbirds are the VIPs of birds visiting their gardens, and hummingbird feeders are a good way to attract them. But if you want your yard to be the “Hummingbird Central” of your neighborhood, you may want to go beyond hummingbird feeders and plant a hummingbird garden.

In addition to providing them a natural diet, a hummer garden is an effective way to attract hummingbirds to your feeder: Hummingbirds feed by sight on regular routes called traplines. Planting flowering plants that attract Hummers will increase the hummingbird traffic to your garden as the birds’ inquisitive nature will quickly lead them to investigate any possible new source of food. An added bonus is that, if you’re interested in capturing these fascinating visitors on film or video, a hummingbird garden will keep hummers around longer and provide a much more attractive background for your images.

If you do plant a hummingbird garden, select a wide variety of plants with the objective of having plants that blossom throughout the season. The will keep your garden a favorite for hummingbirds from early spring until they head south. Check with your local nursery for the best choices for planting.

A couple of tips:

• DON’T USE PESTICIDES on or near your hummingbird plants. Hummers might ingest the pesticides which, in a best case, could impair their ability to reproduce and worst case, kill them. In addition, hummers eat small insects which provide an essential source of protein, so it's a disservice to them to try to exterminate an important food source.
• DON’T USE HONEY in your hummingbird feeders. Honey is not a “more natural” food for hummingbirds and contains spores that can kill them. You don’t need to get fancy with the nectar for your feeders, keep it simple: Mix one part white sugar to 4 parts water, boil until the sugar dissolves, then cool. Change the nectar in your feeders every 4-5 days. Store the extra nectar in you refrigerator for a maximum of two weeks. And don’t worry about adding red coloring, there is no evidence that the hummingbirds care

At Birdfeedersunlimited we have some spectacular hand-blown glass hummingbird feeders for your garden These are extremely beautiful and will provide a stunning focus for your yard as well as providing a feeder that will attract lots of hummers. You can
see them here.