What Flowers Attract Hummingbirds? Best Tips For You!
We love watching hummingbirds roaming around our garden and creating a pleasant vibe. These tiny birds arrive in the spring to drink nectar from beautiful flowers. The sugar solution from different flowers is a popular source of hummingbird food. But they do not seek thousands of flowers to drink nectar. They will get attracted to certain flowers.
Among 350 species of hummingbirds, you can see different varieties of beautiful color combinations and unique features. Even though nectar is the main food for hummingbirds, they need something more to survive. The climatic changes may affect the habitat and diet of hummingbirds. They usually include small insects, saps, ashes, sand, pollens, and fruits in their diet.
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How To Attract Hummingbirds To Your Backyard?
Hummingbirds have a high rate of metabolism in their bodies because of their activity level. They consume more than half of their body weight for energy production. Understanding what hummingbirds love eating will help you to attract them to your backyard.
If you are someone who loves the presence of hummingbirds and enjoys feeding them their favorite food. Then this article is for you. Scroll down the whole article to decorate your garden with flowers and hummingbirds.
Characteristics of flowers that attract hummingbirds
Adding flowers to your yard is a great way to attract hummingbirds. These flowers attract tiny creatures and provide a sweet aroma to your surroundings and add beauty to your garden. These characteristics of flowers can invite more feathered friends to your backyard.
- Color
Hummingbirds love red, yellow, and orange colors. If you want to attract hummingbirds to your garden, consider planting bright-colored flowering plants. Whenever these tiny creatures roam around in the garden, they will get attracted to such flowers from a distance.
- Shape
The most distinctive feature of humming is its beak. Unlike other birds, hummingbirds have long and narrow-shaped beaks. So, they prefer to go to the flower with a long and tubular shape. These flowers are apt for the beak of hummingbirds and they can easily sip the nectar from them.
- Nectar
As we all know, nectar is the favorite food of hummingbirds, they approach flowers that are rich in nectar. Some flowers produce a large quantity of nectar. So that birds can suck more nectar from a single flower.
Top flowers that attract hummingbirds
If you are planning to attract hummingbirds with a flowering plant, then choose the plant that suits the features of the little amazing avians. These birds depend on nectar to attain essential nutrients, vitamins, and protein. The flowers that attract hummingbirds are
- Trumpet Vine
It is a trumpet-shaped flower that is rich in nectar. This flower is also known as the hummingbird vine because of its shape, they can easily suck nectar from it. This flower accommodates the bird’s long beak and the bird can effectively pump essential nutrients without getting troubled. Trumpet Vine is seen in red, orange, and yellow colors.
- Cardinal flower
This flower has a striking red bloom from the bellflower family. It attracts hummingbirds with its bright red color and is an excellent source of nectar. The cardinal flower deposits pollen grains on the top of hummingbirds as they sip the nectar. These pollen grains get transferred to other places and pollination happens.
- Red Hot Poker
Red Hot Poker creates nectar for birds in large quantities. It is seen in shades of red, orange, and yellow, often bi-colored. The shape of this flower is long and has lance-shaped foliage. These tall flowers are flexible for hummingbirds to sip nectar.
- Bleeding heart
As the name of the flower, it looks like a bleeding heart. They bloom at the beginning of the summer. A bleeding heart is a 3 feet long flower in a combination of red and white color. Planting the plant of bleeding heart flowers attracts different types of birds into the garden.
- Bee Balm
It is also known as Bergamot, Horsemint, and Monarda. It often attracts bees, hummingbirds, and butterflies with its attractive colors and nectar. The Bee Balm is composed of full spikes in a spherical shape.
Fuchsia, Columbine, Honeysuckle, and Petunia are the other flowering plants that attract hummingbirds.
Tips for attracting hummingbirds
Transforming your yard into heaven surrounded by hummingbirds and other avians makes your life colorful. These tips can help to create an enhancing environment for hummingbirds and feed them their favorite food.
- Hummingbirds are attracted to bright flowers. So, filling your yard with flowering plants invites more birds. They spend time there by sucking nectar from them.
- Remember to plant lots of flowers that are rich in nectar in bulk. Try to plant in groups so that hummingbirds can easily target the flowers.
- Pesticides are a big threat to hummingbirds. Avoid using pesticides for your plants because the toxic substances of the pesticides can kill off the hummingbirds that rely on them for food.
- In addition to flowers, place feeders in your garden to attract them. Find a good feeder from the market and fill it with homemade nectar. Check the feeder frequently to avoid signs of bacterial or fungal growth.
- Provide water sources everywhere in your garden. So the birds can drink water and keep hydrated in the summer season.
Summarising
Creating a heavenly environment to attract hummingbirds is fun and joyful, But it may take some time to attract them. So be patient and provide some time for their visit. The feeding habit and habitat of hummingbirds change due to climatic changes and other external factors. So providing food sources in your backyard can be a relief to these creatures.
Once they spot the safest food source, they visit the place frequently and spend most of their time there. Always remember to avoid artificial nectar, pesticides, and chemical substances to attract hummingbirds. With proper care and attention, you can have a refreshing bird-watching experience simply sitting at your home.