Q: I’ve got my first backyard and I want to start attracting birds, especially hummingbirds! Do you have any suggestions on making a great space that draws birds?
A: How fun for you. You’ll be doing those feathered friends a great service when you create a safe and enticing area for them to want to visit. First and foremost, think about easy escape routes. Where you have birds, you may get predators. Keep that in mind when you are deciding on where to place your feeders. Remember to set your feeders in open, airy spots.
Attracting hummers for the first time could be a challenge. Does anyone else in your neck of the woods feed? If so, you’ll want to make your feeders more attractive. In the beginning, make your nectar a tad stronger when you are mixing it.
The recipe for homemade nectar is easy. It’s one part sugar to four parts water. Set a pot on the stove, bring the water to a boil, turn off the heat, add the sugar and stir it up so all the sugar dissolves. Allow this concoction to cool completely before you fill your feeders.
With that, in the beginning, consider adding a little more sugar to the mix so your feeders are sweeter. Then, once you’ve got “regulars,” and you will get to the point where you can recognize them, you can eliminate the extra sugar and return the mixture to “normal.”
I’ve never added food coloring to my nectars because if the area is attractive enough, the color in the nectar is just fluff.
When you are hanging your feeders, do not place them in a spot that receives full sun all day. Heated-up nectar will sour rapidly. Usually it is best to hang the feeder under a portal or from shepherd’s hooks under trees. Be sure to place the feeders so you can watch them from several vantage points, too.
I’ve always preferred glass bottle feeders as they are the easiest to keep sanitary. Now, remember that hummers are attracted by the color red and really love feasting on nectars from natural sources. That means adding hummingbird-friendly plant life.
Look for plants with “throated” or pendulous shaped blooms. Hummingbirds will definitely appreciate these. New Mexico has several extra-sturdy plants that not only grow well here, but which the birds enjoy. The Salvia greggii, or autumn sage, is a smallish perennial shrub bearing brilliant bright red blooms. The tubular shape of the bloom is perfectly suited for the beak of the hummers.
Nowadays there are several hybrids available to give you lots of choices for adding color to your world. Look for a newcomer that wears bright hot pink with a white-throated bloom called “hot lips” and others in the purple and coral color ranges.
Next, plant the “hummingbird bush” (how appropriate) or Zauschneria. This easy-to-grow, brilliant red bloomed, self-sowing perennial will attract even the most skittish of birds. Again, it wears those trumpet-shaped blooms required by hummers to feed from. Just lop it down in late winter and it’ll come back year after year.
For a bigger shrub, consider the althea or Rose of Sharon bush. Having watched my birds, they seem to prefer the double petal varieties but visit all varieties planted in my neck of the woods. All of these attractant plants will take our full sun down to dappled light with ease. They’re not very thirsty by nature, but they will bloom better for longer with consistent watering. Perennials like columbine are a sure hit.
Among the annuals, snapdragons work well. I’ve even watched the birds buzz geraniums for a change of pace. Anything bright and in the red spectrum works.
Hope this helps you start your hummingbird haven.
Need tips on growing your garden? Tracey Hobson is a certified nurseryman. Send your garden-related questions to Digging In, Rio Rancho/West Side Journal, P.O. Drawer J, Albuquerque, NM 87103.
