Hummingbird haven

The summer conversation of gardeners and birdwatchers alike eventually gets around to hummingbirds. Comments like the following are typical: "I had one or two hummers early, but they are gone now. I never get hummingbirds until late in the season. I can't keep my feeders filled. I go through five pounds of nectar a week. I'd give anything to get some hummingbirds at my feeder."

It seems some back yards are host to lots of hummingbirds, while others are not. Is there any rhyme or reason to these differences? If we take a look at hummingbird needs and preferences, maybe we can make some sense out of all the information we gather from different gardeners and birdwatchers. I do know that just putting up a feeder is not always enough to attract hummingbirds to your back yard.

Male ruby-throated hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris) usually arrive in our area around April 15. This particular date is not set in stone, so don't be surprised to see them earlier or later. Females generally arrive about a week later.

The first order of spring business is mating, nest building, and raising a family. The male looks for a suitable territory for these activities. Transition zones, areas near mature hardwood timber where nest building occurs, and wide-open fields where wildflowers grow so that nectar is readily available, are the perfect locations.

As the females arrive, males compete for their favors by demonstrating aerial acrobatics. When a female has been suitably impressed by a particular male, they mate. Having performed his fatherly duty, the male is no longer concerned about his mate or their forthcoming brood.

After mating, the female begins to build a nest on a down sloping branch, preferably in a mature hardwood tree. This 1- to 2 inch-wide nest is made from spider webs and bits of plant material. After nest building, she normally lays one to two eggs. She incubates the eggs by herself by spending 50 to 55 minutes of each hour on the nest and about 5 to 10 minutes each hour foraging for food. Food sources are long-throated flowers that contain nectar. Obviously nectar, if available, will be gathered from hummingbird feeders. In addition hummingbirds also eat small insects, a source of protein, that are usually found on plants that produce nectar. Therefore, even if hummingbird feeders are readily available in an area, hummers must still go to flowers for food.

After a 16 to 18 day incubation period, the naked babies are born. Since the babies are naked at birth, they are unable to keep their body temperature up. Therefore mother hummingbird must juggle her time between keeping the babies warm while also gathering nectar and small insects in order to keep them fed. Sounds like a typical working moms schedule in today's society. In about two to three weeks the babies fledge. They have the natural ability to find food on their own. These young hummingbirds may move into new territories so that they can find sufficient nectar and other food sources for survival. If the mother hummingbird has a successful brood early in the spring, she may opt to mate again and produce a second brood. When this occurs the population of hummingbirds will increase again during the late summer. They too will need to find new territories that provide them with sufficient food sources for survival.

As the population increases throughout the summer, hummingbirds seek out new areas for food. If you haven't been successful in attracting birds in the spring, be patient. They may come to your landscape in the late summer.

If you want to increase the chances of attracting hummingbirds to your landscape all season long, you must provide for their needs. Start by planting shade trees. A few of my favorites are pin oak, willow oak, northern red oak, white oak, green or white ash, and red sunset maple. There are many more trees that can be added to this list.

There are a lot of wildflowers and vines that you can plant in your landscape that will provide food for your hummingbirds. You can choose from species such as trumpet creeper, bee balm, trumpet honeysuckle, lobelia, and red buckeye. Other choices include columbine cypress vine, butterfly bush, butterfly weed, rose of Sharon and foxglove.

Hummingbirds like to preen and clean themselves during light rain showers. You can provide localized light rain showers through the use of water misters. These devices should be placed near plants that hummingbirds congregate around.

As you can see, a hummingbird has particular needs for raising a family and for survival. If you live in that favored transition zone that has both wide-open fields and mature hardwood timbers, you will probably have hummingbirds in your yard even if you don't put up feeders. If you don't live in that area, then plantings of shrubs and trees, along with feeders and misters will increase your chances of attracting hummingbirds to your backyard.

Send your gardening and landscape questions to Paul Schnare at P.O. Box 699; Cape Girardeau, Mo. 63702-0699 or by e-mail to news@semissourian.com.