WILDLIFE LEARNING CENTER

It is not hard to attract hummingbirds almost anywhere in the United States and southern Canada if you create favorable habitats and put up hummingbird feeders.

So start today. We promise that your life will be richer for it.

One of the best ways to attract hummingbirds and thus have the enjoyment of watching them in your yard is to buy a hummingbird feeder and put it in your garden. Placing it near flowers to which hummingbirds may be drawn will make it even more attractive.

HOW TO CHOOSE A FEEDER
You will be doing lots of filling and cleaning of the feeder, so make sure you can reach all areas to scrub them thoroughlt. You can use bottle brushes or pipe cleaners to make it easier.

Start with smaller feeders and wait until your customers are regularly emptying these before going for the larger sizes. This will ensure that your feeder solution will not sit too long in the feeder and spoil. If you have a larger-size feeder you do not have to fill it all the way. Just put in an amount that hummingbirds will use in a day or two.

There are feeders made out of plastic or glass or a combination of the two. There are pros and cons to both. Plastic does not break, but on the other hand, some feel that glass is easier to clean. There are many quality feeders on the market made out of each material.

PERCHING OR NOT?

Perches are a useful, although not essential, feature on hummingbird feeders. If the feeder has perches, the hummers will use them. If not, the hummers will happily hover at the feeding holes just as they do when drinking from flowers in the wild. When they want to perch they will go to a nearby shrub or tree. One potential problem with perches: larger birds, such as orioles, may use the perches to get at the sugar water and exclude the hummingbirds. You can eliminate this problem by temporarily removing the perches or adding feeders without perches.

WHERE TO PUT THE FEEDER?

The best place to put feeders initially is near flowers that are attractive to hummingbirds. Or, even beter, where hummingbirds have been seen feeding. It is preferable to have already created a habitat where hummingbirds are likely to visit. Try to place the feeders where they will be protected from the wind and where there is some shade.
Wind jostles the feeder and may make the sugar solution spill. Hot sun shining all day on the feeder can cause the sugar solution to spoil more quickly.

HOW MANY FEEDERS?

Once you have attracted hummingbirds, the feeder will become a source of constant entertainment as the hummingbirds zoom in and out and chase one another, jockeying for position to feed. Hummingbirds can be very aggressive around sources of food and will try to keep other hummers away. A pecking order may form among the hummers at the feederwith some birds or species being dominant over others.

To reduce the competition and allow more hummers to feed, try putting up a second, third, or even more feeders.

WHEN TO TAKE DOWN FEEDERS

One of the biggest misconceptions about hummingbirds held by the general public is the belief that if you do not take hummingbird feeders down at a certain time in the fall, you will prevent the hummingbirds from migrating. This is not true.

In many areas, hummingbirds begin migrating even when there are still flowers in bloom and insects available. In fact, males generally migrate several weeks ahead of females and immatures. Species that live in the same area often migrate at different times, regardless of the fact that food obviously remains for any birds that stay behind. Migrating hummingbirds may actually be helped by the feederstat are left up; as they begin their southward journey, the feeders give them the extra energy needed for their long flight. This is especially true in years of drought when there may not be as many flowers in bloom.

In certain areas of the country hummingbirds are year-round residents. On the West Coast, in the Southwest, and in a few places in the Southeast, hummingbirds can be found in the winter. The Anna's hummingbirds, which used to live mainly in southern California, can now be found year-round, all the way up the west coast.

Where hummingbirds are found year-round, feeders left up all year may be life sustaining to some hummingbirds.