High life for hummingbirds

Last year I gave up on my hummingbird feeder. I was concerned that I might be offering moldy or infected sugar water, because I couldn’t get around to refilling the feeder every day in hot weather. And truth to tell, I wasn’t seeing any hummingbirds using the feeder.

    Because they beat their wings constantly, hummingbirds have to keep eating whenever they’re awake, and at night they lower their metabolic rate to use less energy. They’re welcome in the garden community because their quest for nectar makes them important pollinators. They also eat lots of insects for protein, consuming up to half their body weight daily.

A hummingbird on the job, pollinating while it sips nectar

    This year I focused on growing flowers that would attract hummingbirds. Conventional advice is to offer a succession of red, orange and pink flowers with long tubular shapes from spring through fall. Recent research clarifies, though, that the birds seek out the location of known nectar sources rather than searching by flower color.

    Until this year, I’d rarely seen a hummingbird in the yard. This year I hoped to lure some to visit the back deck so I’d have a chance of seeing them. 

    Sure enough, we’ve seen hummingbirds near the house this summer. Yesterday one visited the cobalt-blue flowers of a hummingbird sage (Salvia guaranitica) growing in a big pot on the deck. 

That blur in the center of the photo is the hummingbird--best I could do

He hovered to dip his beak in the thin tubular flowers before darting away to perch on a nearby tree branch—the first time I’ve seen a hummingbird sitting still.

    I’ve also seen a hummingbird feeding from a tall meadow rue (Thalictrum rochebrunianum) that has sprays of tiny shallow lavender flowers, not trumpet-shaped at all. I guess the birds’ choice of flower shape must be a preference rather than an invariable rule.

Surprisingly, these flowers attracted a hummingbird

    So what accounts for more hummingbirds visiting the yard and coming near the house this year? I can’t be sure, but I have some guesses. First, I now have three honeysuckle vines (Lonicera sempervirens) blooming along the back and side of the house near the deck. 

Honeysuckle has everything hummingbirds like

Their flowering has lasted longer this summer than usual, perhaps because it’s been such a wet year. There’s that hummingbird sage, which started blooming in August and is covered with flowers. I’ve also learned that the old-fashioned magenta-flowered rhododendron (Rhododendron catawbiense) facing the deck is popular with the birds. Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica), whose trumpet-shaped flowers also offer nectar for hummingbirds, had a good year in a shady spot around the corner from the deck.

Virginia bluebells' blooms start pink and change to blue

    The yard also provides nesting material for hummingbirds: spider webs and dandelion fluff. I can’t take any credit for those; they’re just here. 

    Another important factor could have cleared the way for hummingbirds. Because they eat so many insects, they’re highly affected by pesticides. This is my first year with no pesticide spraying at all. I wasn’t thinking of hummingbirds when I made the decision to stop the last pesticide application, for winter moth. If it’s made a better life for hummingbirds, I’m glad.

Hummingbird sage draws other visitors too