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You’ll probably hear a hummingbird
before you see it, making noise like a very
large bee. The ruby throated hummingbird may
look delicate as it hovers among the
flowers, but this amazing 1/4-ounce bird
completes a migratory flight of nearly 2,000
miles from its breeding grounds in the
eastern United States and Canada to the
Jacksonville area where it winters. Some go
another 600 miles over the Gulf of Mexico to
Central America! To attract hummingbirds,
flowers evolved bright colors and stand out
from the plant’s leaves, so hummers can
easily hover over them. Hummingbirds favor
flowers that are red or orange, tubular and
full of dilute nectar. If you hang a banana
peel or half an orange nearby, you’ll also
attract fruit flies that they love to eat.
See the plant list below. Attracting this
delightful bird to your yard will provide you with
hours of entertainment watching the acrobatics of
this energetic little bird as he hovers in mid air
to feed from your plants or feeders. Set up a
birdbath with a mister. The hummingbirds will fly
through the mist to cool off.
Do not use pesticide in your garden because
that will kill the small bugs that hummingbirds eat
for protein.
Feeders are more work than plants: mix 1/4 cup of
plain table sugar with 1 cup of boiling water.
Boiling the water assures you that all sugar
crystals will be completely dissolved. Using red dye
can harm them. Once hummingbirds have found the
feeder, the color is not important. They will
happily drink nectar that is clear colored as long
as you have some red ribbon hanging there and
usually the feeder is red. Allow to cool completely
before filling and hanging outside. Hang in shaded
areas near shrubs or bushes that will provide
shelter for the hummingbirds. Hummingbirds are
territorial and will fight to claim their food
source. Check the feeder daily and fill whenever
necessary. Generally, you should clean and refill
your feeder on a weekly basis. Simply wash in hot
water with a mild dish detergent. Use a bottle brush
to remove traces of black mold in the base or in
corners. Use a toothbrush to clean the yellow
sippers. |
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| If you have birds running into your windows, go
to www.windowalert.com and for $7 you can get decals for
your windows that are very noticeable to birds, not
so to humans.
Plant list * denotes native
Vines
Bignonia capreolata/Cross Vine*
Campsis radicans/Trumpet
Vine*
Lonicera sempervirens/Coral Honeysuckle*
Perennials
Agastache Aquilegia canadensis/Columbine*
Coleus
Dicliptera suberecta/Hummingbird Plant
Echinacea purpurea/Coneflower*
Erythrina herbacea/Coralbean*
Fuchsia
Hibiscus coccineus/Scarlet Hibiscus*
Ipomopsis rubra/Standing Cypress*
Jatropha
integerrima/Coral Plant
Lantana depressa*
Lobelia cardinalis/Cardinal Flower*
Monarda punctata/Dotted
Horsemint*
Odontonema cuspidatum/Firespike
Penstemon/Beard-tongue
Ruellia elegans
Salvia coccinea/Red Sage*
Salvia greggii, elegans, leucantha and other salvias
Silene
regia/Royal Catchfly*
Shrubs
Buddleia/Butterfly Bush
Clethra ‘Ruby Spice’/Summersweet*
Trees
Aesculus
pavia/Red Buckeye*
Cercis canadensis/Redbud*
Liriodendron tulipifera/Tulip Tree*
Malus
angustifolia/Southern Crabtree* |
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