flowers and supply of nectar

I noticed that hummingbirds often return to the same flowers over and over again throughout the day. i read somewhere that they have impeccable memory of each flower they drink from so I'm ruling out poor memory. So my guess is that flowers replenish their nectar throughout the day. Is this true? And, if yes, how often does it replenish its supply of nectar? Also, I understand that hummingbirds need approximately 1000 blooms per day but does that include several visits to the same flower? Thanks.

I don't know the answer and I am surprised there have not been more responses! Where is ever body? An inquiring mind wants to know!

I'm not a expert, but my thoughts are that flowers don't replenish their nectar. I have seen hummers go to tumpet vine flowers and only once. If flowers replenished when would they wilt and die?

Actually, GreenLife, thats a darn good question! I hope someone that remembers their plant physiology course better than I comes along and answers your question soon. Until then, we wait! ;-)

John

Sandy, my first inclination is to accept that the flowers don't replenish their nectar but just through observation, I think otherwise because I see the hummingbirds going to the same flowers throughout the day and staying for a long enough period to take in a good dose of nectar.

imway2dumb-You have no idea how glad I am to hear that you share an interest in my question. When I ask questions like this, I usually get a pause, followed by a "WHY are you asking that????" response. Hopefully someone will come through and provide us with an answer. I tried a bit of googling but came up emptyhanded.

LOL....you 'n me both LOL

I had to chop my sunbirds favorite bush nearly to the ground 2 weeks ago as it was hardly producing any new flowers or leaves and just looked like a bunch of dead twigs poking in every direction. Now it's growing nicely, but it's still small and has no flowers yet. I had to do it....no choice. But I've noticed a drastic reduction in how often my sunbirds visit my garden now. Hopefully they'll forgive me and come back once the bush starts producing flowers again in another 2 weeks or so.

Back to the topic at hand, I did notice the same thing.....the sunbirds going back to the same blooms. But not just throughout the day.....a few times at each visit. I guess to suck out the very last bits LOL

-Julie

I just wrote a paper on this for a workshop I was going to give at a Roundup.

Different flowers will replenish their nectar at different rates. It's true that hummers will not visit the same bloom in a day. Generally, it takes about 24 hours to replenish nectar and, you guessed it, some flowers will not replenish and just die (those one-day bloomers . . . I'm thinking of things like tropical hibiscus and 4 O'clocks, which are called 7:30's at my house! ;>) ) I don't know about the 1,000 flowers factoid. I suppose that could be true. Hummers need to eat several times their body weight each day (I don't know the number). Since different plants produce different amounts of nectar, I would guess that 1,000 flowers is a rule of thumb. I don't think they carry around little tiny calculators to make sure they've visited enough gardens. :>) Remember also, that hummers must compete with bees and flutterbies for the nectar.

Think about a penta, for an excellent example. A full-sized mature penta plant will make dozens of those ball-shaped clusters of flowers. I can't even guess how many tiny blossoms make up each ball. While the hummer may hit the same ball or cluster, it will not hit the exact same flower within that ball or cluster.

Try www.hummingbirds.net for more info. One thing I learned there is that hummers are actually flycatchers and need teeny little bugs for protein. The nectar sucking is for quick energy so they are able to catch bugs and eat them. The number of bugs they catch to eat in a given day will have an impact on how many flowers are visited within that same day, wouldn't you think? This is another reason to go organic, if you haven't already, and stop spraying for bugs. Even the pests have a purpose within the mini-ecosystem that gardeners create. I'm all for living and letting live, but your opinion may differ and there's nothing in the world wrong with that.

Thanks, Diane. I was going to email you about this thread but, you found it!

John

This was a great question. It was something that I've never even given one bit of thought to. My school science classes seriously lacked when it came to entertaining or interesting me. Thus, I try to show my sons little things now to keep them curious. Now, where are my hummers?! I'm still waiting....

Check out my link konkrete (Boy do I love that band!) -- there's an answer to your question in there, "where are my hummers?"

Speaking of salvia lovers, the hummingbirds can't get enough of the salvias in the garden. I hope your bush grows back soon.


Thanks everyone for taking interest in my question. I've been racking my brain over this. Koncreteblond, thanks for your answer. Like salvia lover said, they're probably attempting to drink every morsel of what nectar is left in the flower.

Greenlife, thank you! Yes my hummer's favorite is growing back nicely now (albeit still small) and already producing some blooms for the little guys :-). While they wait for more of those coveted blossoms, they 'make do' with the 15 or so other Salvias as well as the citrus trees in the garden :-)

-Julie