Hummers like plants, not feeders, at my place!

I've been seeing hummingbirds all around my coral honeysuckle and firebush plants, but never once at my hummingbird feeder which has been up for longer than the plants. The feeder is right next to one of the firebushes, and the hummers don't even seem to notice it. They go straight for the flowers! I guess its a good thing (natural is better in my opinion).

Anyone else notice a pattern in their yard?

Yes. It seems the females in my yard go straight for the plants, and the males go straight for the feeder. The favorite plant in my yard is a Shrimp Plant. I can be standing 2 - 3 feet away, and she still cannot resist that plant!! Someday, I'll be smart enough to have my camera in hand!!

mine use both. They usually hit the plants first then go to the feeders. They use the feeders more when it is raining and blooms are closed

Good gosh! With all the plants blooming in my yard ..... where in the world are the hummers and butterflies????!

With all the rain we've been getting, everything is blooming like crazy! I have so many nectar plants (that hummers are suppose to love) that it is hard to believe. It's sorta like my entire east fence covered completely with Passion vine. Not a Gulf Fritillary or Zebra Longwing in sight! I guess I have the perfect garden for folks that want to grow plants, not host and provide for wildlife. Ha! And I don't even use pesticide! LOL! I bet if I was growing prized plants ..... I'd have tons of cats, butterflies, and birds eating them up! LOL! Go figure!

Funny Becky. That is so true. If you cared that your passion vine got eaten up by cats like some do it would be eaten to the ground. I feel your pain. I don't have as many wonderful plants blooming as you do, planted but not blooming yet, but have not had much action in my yard either. I did however have a hummingbird come in and immediately start on my black and blue salvia. Of course what I planted for the hummer was the tutti-frutti agastache which was right next to the black and blue. Oh and the agastache is right next to the hummingbird feeder. Oh well, I guess they like to keep us guessing.

Leslie

Just to let ya know the irony of all of this ...... here are the plants I have in my yard blooming right now (and they are pretty decent sized plants, not starters):

Coral Honeysuckle vine, Coral vine, Firespike, Black and Blue Salvia (several plants around my yard), Bee Balm (blooming again!), Red Brazilian Petunia, Skullcap, Lantana (several different cultivars), Milkweed, Firecracker plant, Pentas, Red salvia (different red varieties), Orange Geiger tree, Cuban Buttercup, various Porterweed bushes (orange and purple), Golden Dewdrop, honeysuckle (white blooms), Mexican Flame vine, Ruellia (Mexican Petunia), Red Shrimp plant, Jatropha bush, all kinds of Zinnias, Hyacinth bean vine (purple and white), ditch lilies and other day lilies, water lilies, Texas (red) Star Hibiscus, and more that I can't think of right now. All blooming and none are bitty plants. Most have been in the ground over a year and some 3 years! Many of these bloom continuously. So .... go figure! My yard looks nice, though! Lots of red and other colors! No chewed leaves on anything! Lush foliage! Lots of growth and spreading. LOL!

Isn't that ironic? Hard for me to believe I don't have butterflies chewing away at all the host plants and drinking nectar from all the flowers! I have JUST the yard for gardening for plants and flowers! And a fair amount of bees, anoles & lizards, lots of small spiders, lots of dragonflies, way too many mosquitos, and some frogs! And everything gets daily rain! HA!

So ..... one of the mysteries of life! (lol)

I haven't seen one at the feeder, but numerous times daily at my flowers - monarda, lobelia and crocosmia.

my hummers go to both plants and feeders. I have a very funny little male right now who thinks he owns the whole place. So it is very funny to watch as he tries to protect all his different turfs!! Last year I had plants that were blooming for them and they all seemed to go to the feeders. I think that the hummers like to keep us on our toes!! You never can tell what they will do next!!
I would venture to say I have at least 10 different hummers right now using my yard. Some are this years babies and some are my veterans! I sure will miss them when they go it always makes me so sad when the fall arrives!!

Becky, does your city spray for mosquitoes by any chance? My PF vines were overrun with GF cats recently. All of the vines were stripped to the runners and I had Gulf Frit butterflies out the wazoo. But a friend who lives just to the northwest of me has had no Gulf Frits at all. In fact, since nothing had touched her PF vine, I sent my remaining hungry cats home with her. Her yard is usually even more overrun with Gulf Frits than mine. The only thing we can speculate is that her city has sprayed for mosquitoes (which it has, and mine hasn't).

Carla

Gosh Becky. I have a bunch of the same plants you have, except for ones I guess that will not grow here that will grow there. And I admit I was griping for awhile because my yard was getting no action. I am having a few BF's here and there and of course the 18 GF cats I have in a cage and no passion vine left (but I bought another one just as a food source). I have seen a hummingbird three times this year. He checked out all three of my feeders, liked my black and blue salvia and really wanted my Texas (red) Star Hibiscus but the bloom was fading, and he was on my sister's pink hibiscus. That is about it. I was extremely excited for those times but otherwise has been pretty slow. Not as slow as yours though. I don't understand it for you. I mean you have raised a lot of cats over the years haven't you? So they must have come to your yard at one point. And if you have not raised any you are at least very knowledgeable about raising them which is why I was thinking you had. Sounds like you have a beautiful yard and I know how discouraging it is that nothing you want is sharing it with you. I would share it with you because I know it is 10 x more beautiful than mine. All of my plants were just put in this year and most within the last two months so you can imagine my gardens are pretty puny. Am hoping they look a lot better next year but then I probably won't get any visitors either. I am sorry you are having no luck but remember it is not over yet. Like I said most of my visitors have just been in the last two weeks to a month so please don't give up. And at least you know you have a lovely garden and yard to enjoy for yourself. It is the BF's and hummers fault if they aren't smart enough to share such a joy and a privilege. I still see more BF's in the front yard than the back and I have nothing in the front yard to attract them. I beg them to go to the back but no doing. So who knows? Life is very, very funny. Keep your chin up girl. I know you will not be forgotten since you have tried and worked so hard.

Leslie

I've been working on my Hummer article....and there's enough info for a couple at least...but I can give ya'll a few tidbits that Bill told me.

Since South FL isn't the best hummer area, he isn't sure of the fall migration, and how many will venture down that far before heading to Central America. You might get a few, but your best chance is in the early spring...late Feb/March. If you wanted to try for fall, mid Sept to mid Oct are probably your best shots.

They fly low, so if they're around, they will find your place.

He also says that depending on the time of year, hummers prefer different plants. They're not sure why, as so little research has been done, but his theory is that they prefer the taste of the nectar at different times...or there may be small insects that frequent certain flowers at specific times. They do like small bugs. But he's gathered enough data, that it's documented that they do like some plants and then totally ignore them at other times.

If you do attract some to your yard, fruit flies may entice them into staying...seems they really like those.

Sorry to hear the hummers still haven't come around. I wonder why your particular area in Florida is 'hummer lite' .... You would think they would love it there and never leave!

I had read that Hummingbirds like the fruit flies and spiders--that's why I keep putting out over-ripe bananas for the butterflies-- but of course, according to the 'fickle' theory the butterflies don't like the bananas but the hummingbirds will come around and snatch up the fruit flies they attract. So it works out in the end.

I wish we could figure out why you aren't getting the hummingbirds and butterflies this year. It seems so strange with all your beautiful flowers...

Our hummingbirds play at the flowers but they definitely love the feeders.

Last night I had a thief. Yes a thief!! And it stole one of my little planter hummer feeders!! My husband and I looked all around the yard for it but to no avail! And my hummers were quite put out that the feeder was not there this morning! I had to go out and get a new one so that the hummers will forgive me. I hope that thief enjoyed his snack. My husband thinks it was a raccoon or a flying squirrel. Who knows.....................

LOL Isn't that audacious of those little rascals to steal a feeder no less?!?

Yes, my raccoons steal my feeders from time to time. I find them under bushes after the leaves drop in the fall. Makes me crazy!

I was amused but my hummers were not. Little spoiled brats!!! They have me running all over the place!!

I don't know if anyone checks these 'aged' blogs but I have feeders all over the garden but the only birds they attract are the 'banana quits' the hummers only go for the plants.

Well, coco, you must tell us what plants you have in your garden!

My hummers mostly go to our feeders, but I don'thave many of their favorite 'tropical' plants here.

Well lets see, the cordia tree is a favourite, crown of thorns, thunbergia, mandevila and plumeria come to mind immediately.
I am a Newbie, how did we both get on a thread from 2007????

I used feeders to originally attract hummers to my yard, but have planted lots of nectar plants since and the little birds now ignore my feeders as they prefer the blooms. In winter when less is blooming, then they will go back to using the feeders as a supplement. Though I've managed to plant bloomers for year round nectar, so they don't use the feeders exclusively! :-)

After a major hurricane in 1995 I took pics of about 30 or 40 birds around the feeder, no hummers though, all quits.

I'm so excited because I just had one "just passin' thru" hummingbird in my garden. This is the first one since I put feeders up several weeks ago. He worked over zinnias and morninglories, then hit the feeder. Next year I'm going to try to get more nectar plants into my garden, as I don't really have many and maybe I can convince a passer-by to stay a while. Does anyone know what wild plants hummers like as they travel? Surely they don't just depend on feeders and formal gardens. I'm zone 6a, and out in the country so miss many of the birds that often stop in town. I could, depending on what they are, try to get more of their wild favorites in my pastures and ditches.

Willow

Sorry willowind, I get lots of stayers but I have very few wild flowers. My cordia tree is one of my best attractors, but also hybiscus, pride of Barbados, thunbergia mandevialla to name a few. Good luck on getting some stayers, my feeders never see them all banana quits.

Hi, willowwind,

Here's an idea: you could plant 'Trumpet Vine' http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/644/ along a well built fence or strong arbor. Some people find it a garden thug so you have to place it in the right situation, but it makes a visual 'statement' and the hummingbirds can see it from far off and it sounds like you have the space .

Some other 'wild type' or easy to grow HB plants that might work in your habitat:

Red Buckeye and Weigela florida http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/175/ (both bushes/trees)
trumpet honeysuckle vine~~
Major Wheeler or Dropmore Scarlet are two good HB cultivars http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/48322/
lilacs (old fashioned kind with lots of nectar)
cardinal lobelia can be started from seeds
salvias
orange/apricot agastaches
monardas
touch-me-nots/jewel weed (these grow wild along our woods) I just threw this seed into the woods one fall and now we have lots.
swamp milkweed often found growing in the wild~~don't need a swamp really.
buddleias
Penstemons
liatris certain liatris are native to your area and should be easy to grow along fence lines or in ditches.
And red Zinnias

For many of the above, you can buy small plants from a site on e-bay (the name of the store escapes me, but many folks here buy from him) and plant them out in the spring. Or buy seed from Everwilde or Prairie Moon. Or go to the seed trading forum where they are always making free seed available.

Good luck. t.

cocoloba.....
Your question

Thank you all...so many good ideas and links. Now I'm all revved up with ideas and it's the end of the season. Oh well, maybe I'll be better planned and studied this way before I tackle changes. Thanks for all the input.

Willow

Thanks for the explanation about the thread, Sheila.
I've been watching hummers at my place since last February, 2009. They like both the feeder and the plants I've planted for them. I see I'll have to add some more if I can get them to grow here. They haven't seen my POB bloom yet, but are attracted to my Honeysuckle, Honeybird bush (Tecoma stans), they've eaten from the agapanthus, lantana, and the 4 O'Clocks out in our yard. I have to keep the feeders in the gh because of the daily winds, but inside they work the banana, Lantana, Hibiscus, Salvia, the 4 O'clocks. They seem to like the feeders early in the day and at the end of the day.
They also liked the Wisteria, and my Potato Bush. Saw one working the Plumbago last week. Not for the nectar was collecting gnats. I've seen them collect spider webs to make their nests. They really seemed to enjoy the pollen the most in the spring and have fed off it less as time goes by.
Some of mine will overwinter, and since they seem to have moved into the gh, I'm sure I'll have company all winter. LOL!
Walk In Beauty!
SingingWolf

Potatoe Bush??? I have a potatoe tree (macranthum) same thing?

I finally found the beginning of the hummer thread. If you read this first page, you'll find a lot of the forage the hummers live on during our winters here in Southern California. Some hummers do overwinter, and I did go a hiking to take photos of their natural forage.
Here is the link if anyone is interested. http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/954218/
Still dry as an old bone out here.
I'll have to get back with you on the potato bush. It does have small purple flowers. Some photos on a more recent page of that thread show my potato bush.
WIB,
SW