i hadn't seen any hummers since moving into the house, but this sping i was buzzed twice while planting around my azalea. they were nuts about the flowers on that thing.
so i put out a couple feeders with sugar water solution and waited... the spring flowers in my yard have all disappeared now and even though i clean and refill the feeders on a regular basis it doesn't seem anyone is using them.
any suggestions on how to attract my little friends back to my yard?
my hummingbirds won't eat from feeders...?
I kept the hummers returning to my yard all summer by planting many Salvia "Black and Blue', Coral Honey Suckle and Cape Honey Suckle. The three plants bloomed all thru the summer and the hummers loved them. Because I kept a good supply of blooming plants growing, they never touched the feeders.
You might try checking out your local nurseries and garden centers for the above mentioned plants and any other bright colored trumpet shaped flower :)
they also love bright colored petunias and zinnia
yup, they sure do! Great suggestion.. and oh so easy to start from seed!
i've got petunias going in some planters, and i moved one of the feeders to an area that is kind of sheltered but has plenty of flowers. hopefully they will come back soon.
since i am using the basic clear bottle with red base, perhaps i could get a brighter feeder too.
has anyone noticed colored glass attracting better than the standard clear?
mine don't eat from the feeders until sept. when they are getting ready to migrate. then they don't care what the feeders look like/ they fight over them. i have 6 feeders
Jleigh, to a Hummer, a red base on a feeder is huge. They can see it from a long way off. If they aren't coming to your feeders, it's possible that your area (neighbors, wildflowers, etc.) has so many of their favorites that they're spending their time in those places.
The recommendations by other members to plant more Hummer favorites is a good one. Try planting some early bloomers, too, like Columbines (aquilegias) & Heucheras. Both come in tons of varieties. If your yard has blooms they like when they first arrive, they may settle there instead of going somewhere else. Agastache is another hummer favorite with many varieties, blooming from summer through fall.
An annual that I have lots of hummers visit is annual Salvia (particularly bright reds & also blues). You can buy nursery pots of these to plant right now & they'll bloom right up until frost. They come in very short to quite tall varieties.
Another advantage of flowers is they generally have spiders around & hummers get their protein from eating tiny spiders & the insects caught in the web. They also use the web strands to help "glue" the various materials in their nests.
Good luck!!
Jleigh one thing I found to work is tying a piece of ribbon around the feeder enough to sway with the breeze maybe 5-6 inches or so,orange and red work great. Jacob cline and red pentas are plants they like in my yard.
One thing to note is that in the summer breeding season, unless you have suitable breeding habitat for Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, you are going to see very few hummers until the young are off the nest. Ruby-throats basically breed near/over streams, so are seldom seen in most suburban areas at this time. Just wait for the new crop of youngsters and you will see some action! Until then, if you have ONE pair, consider yourself fortunate!
My hummers were the opposite. They fed at the feeders, ignoring blooming hummer delicacies nearby. Finally, my female hummer noticed, and she was all over the red yucca and giant blue salvia.
Just got both female and male rubythroats at the feeder today. They need both habitat and feeders to come visit often. I find that 'Lady in red' salvia is a real magnet for hummers until the campsis vine is in bloom. We also have both a purple and a red feeder. Well, they voted with their wings: red it is! They completely ignore the purple one!