Photo: Game Commission

by Joe Kosack, Wildlife Conservation Education Specialist, Pennsylvania Game Commission

Some people are convinced there's a secret to getting hummingbirds to visit their yards. They believe they need special feeders. Perfectly mixed nectars. Precision feeder placement. But, hummingbirds really aren't that finicky.

As a rule, if you set the table for hummingbirds, they will come. Ruby-throated hummingbirds - the only ones regularly found in Pennsylvania or east of the mighty Mississippi River in spring and summer - aren't necessarily very timid and seem begrudgingly tolerant of people. As long as they can find your feeder, they'll figure out when it's best to use it.

"As long as the feeder is noticeable, filled with relatively fresh nectar or sugar water, and hummingbirds have returned from their wintering grounds, there's always a good chance that it will attract hummingbirds," noted Dan Brauning, Pennsylvania Game Commission Wildlife Diversity Section chief. "It doesn't hurt to window-dress your rock gardens or flowerbeds with plants that hummingbirds seek out. But the feeder is your first and best shot to attract early hummingbirds."

According to Brauning, hummingbirds begin to trickle out of their wintering grounds in Central and South America in April. In the process, they will fly nonstop across the massive Gulf of Mexico and then flit from flowerbed to feeder to flowerbed through the South as they work their way north to their nesting grounds. They begin to show up in Pennsylvania in late April or early May. Pennsylvania's time-honored standard arrival date is May 1.

Plants are great hummingbird attractors. Some of their favorites include red salvia, coral bells, trumpet vine, honeysuckle, gladiolus, jasmine, begonias, and scarlet morning glory. Other flowering magnets include hanging fuchsias, morning glory, paintbrush, petunias and trumpet-creeper. Wild flowers, such as columbine and beebalms (Monarda), are very appealing to hummingbirds and are easy to grow. Flowering trees and shrubs, such as mimosa (silk tree), or those that blossom, including rose-of-sharon, black locust, horse chestnut and sweetgum, also are great attention-getters.

Color is the key to stopping hummingbirds in your yard, so catch their eye with something colorful, particularly vibrant reds, oranges and yellows, even pinks and purples. Hummingbird feeders usually have red and yellow parts for flagging that get the job done. Then its up to the day-glow of your flowers to convince hummingbirds to drop their landing gear.

Some of the best flowers for attracting hummingbirds are those of tubular design. So go tubular and select festive colors. It's also a good idea to create large patches of similar flowers, rather than to put together a mish- mash in each bed. If your flowerbeds are near where you'll hang your feeder, they'll definitely serve as billboards to hummingbird traffic.

"The first step to attracting hummingbirds to your yard is getting them to stop," Brauning said. "So long as your home isn't situated in a highly urbanized area, it shouldn't be hard to get a hummingbird to stop in your yard using flowers and feeders. Hummingbirds prefer more open areas with ample vegetation. They aren't opposed to zipping around houses, or approaching people. But it's always best to get them coming to your property first. Then direct the hummingbirds to where you'd like to watch them.

"It's usually a good idea to try attracting hummingbirds to a location on your property where disturbances are minimal and there is at least partial shade," Brauning said. "Whether that's a feeder off the back-porch, or suspended from a rod-iron stand in a rock garden in front of the house, doesn't really matter. Once hummingbirds are using the feeder, move it five or 10 feet every other day toward the location you'd prefer they use for your viewing pleasure. They will follow readily."

Male hummingbirds are extremely territorial; they guard feeders from lookout posts and chase one another away with the ferocity of maddened hornets. But they also will occasionally and enthusiastically attempt to chase bees, small mammals and other larger birds. It is because of this aggressive nature that it's never a good idea to place hummingbird feeders near windows, particularly picture windows.

The hummingbird's scrappiness is legendary, but their "no quarter," lightning-quick pursuit of intruders can send these feathery hotheads rushing 20 to 30 miles per hour into a window, a battle they never win. Sometimes they fly toward windows because they see and decide to attack their mirrored image. Other times, they're fleeing pursuit and slam into a reflected skyline with no give.

"If you keep feeders away from windows, it reduces your chances of placing hummingbirds in harm's way, because hummingbirds - like all birds - cannot see glass," noted Doug Gross, Game Commission ornithologist. "If you want to get close to the action, do it through plantings by the your patio, deck or porch, or by placing a feeder near your favorite lounge chair or vegetable garden. Windows can be and are deadly to birds with anger-management issues, and hummingbirds surely qualify!"

What makes the hummingbird so susceptible to glass - and each other - is the fabulous flight gear nature has provided. Its body can hum to a beat of up to 80 wing strokes per second. It can fly backwards, hover and rise like a helicopter and go from zero to 30 miles per hour in 20 feet. The bird is a natural wonder, one that few people ever tire of watching.

Of course, to keep its finely tuned body operating smoothly, the hummingbird requires an ample supply of nectar that is readily available. Nectar is as potent as rocket fuel to hummers because of its high-caloric content. But given the hummingbird's limited ability to store energy and its high metabolic rate, the bird must constantly eat to satisfy its body's needs and fuel flight. That's why flowerbeds and feeder bottles are so "sweet" and essential to hummingbirds.

One word of caution about these feeders, however, is to be careful if you live in "bear country." Due to their high-caloric offering, hummingbird feeders may attract any of Pennsylvania's nearly 15,000 bears, many of which will soon be out of their winter dens if they are not already. So, if you want to feed hummingbirds, but want to avoid attracting bears to your property, consider bringing feeders inside at night or suspend feeders from high crosswires so they are at least 10 feet above the ground and four feet from anything a bear can climb, including overhead limbs.

If you do attract nuisance bears and either you or your neighbors contact the Game Commission, the first thing you will be instructed to do is to remove the feeders. Capturing and moving bears that have become habituated to humans is a costly and sometimes ineffective way of addressing the problem, especially when faced with the possibility of merely moving a problem bear from one area to another.

Wherever you suspend your feeder, it's likely to attract insects. Hanging a feeder filled with sugar water is like placing a "welcome" mat for ants and bees. So if you or someone in your family is allergic to bee stings, it's not a good idea to put a feeder on the porch. There are bee-proof feeders available on the market, but they still attract bees. Ants can be deterred by smearing oil or petroleum jelly - or placing a commercial ant barrier - on the suspension string.

Hummingbirds prefer edge and shrubby habitat for foraging and nesting. In addition to nectar, they consume flying insects, particularly gnats. Females on nest duty often strike flying insects as they pass and occasionally pirate insects tangled in spider webs.

With each passing year, feeding hummingbirds is becoming more popular. A visit to just about any home-improvement store or garden center will uncover a bevy of bottle feeders for hummingbirds. Some are inexpensive. Some are elegantly decorated. Some are better at attracting hummers than others.

"To be honest, hummingbirds really don't care whether feeders are made of glass or plastic, or whether they're filled with a store-bought nectar mixture, or a homemade recipe," Gross explained. "What matters is that the bird can find the feeder, and that it has fresh nectar within its reservoir. A hummingbird will drink nectar from a milk glass, a soda can, or a tin pan if they can find it.

"So don't feel there's a need to go expensive in this department, because you can't impress a hummingbird! But if you'd like to make a style statement with a handmade glass feeder, or prefer glass feeders over plastic ones for reasons of durability or cleaning ease, then go ahead, have at it!"

The most inexpensive recipe for hummingbird nectar is a solution containing one part sugar and four parts water. The mixture should be boiled and cooled before filling your feeder reservoir. Store unused nectar in the refrigerator until you need it. Commercial mixtures that are available are convenient and effective, too.

It is not necessary to add red food coloring to mixtures to attract hummingbirds. In addition, never use honey in your feeder; it ferments and birds can become ill from consuming it.

Hummingbird feeders should be cleaned once a week in warm weather, twice a week in hot weather. Otherwise, they will become holding tanks for fungi that are harmful to birds. Feeders should be stripped down and washed in warm soapy water. Wipe all surfaces and rinse thoroughly.

Once birds begin using your feeder, you'll have to keep an eye on it, because they can drain it in relatively short order. Hummingbirds usually visit feeders about every 10 to 15 minutes. If hummingbirds were using your feeder last year, re-hang it where it was. They often check known locations first.

If hummingbirds routinely use your feeder in May, they'll likely build a nest nearby. Females - the dull-colored ones - primarily build their half- dollar-sized nests with plant fibers and spider webs, and with twigs or branches of deciduous trees. Nests are camouflaged with lichens. The two white, pea-sized eggs laid in the nest hatch after about two weeks of incubation. The hatchlings are under their mother's care for about 25 days, then the young are on their own.

4/7/2006