Attracting Hummingbirds
Lesson 1: THE SECRETS TO ATTRACTING BACKYARD HUMMINGBIRDS
WHERE SHOULD YOU HANG YOUR FEEDERS?
After you have purchased your feeders, you must determine the optimal places to hang them. Below are the steps to determine where you feeders should be located:
* Check your yard for hornet and praying mantis nests. Never place a hummingbird feeder near one of these nests, as both the hornet and praying mantis can become aggressive to small birds and may even raid hummingbird nests of hatchlings.
* Place feeders where they are in the shade and shielded from the wind. Hummingbirds may avoid them if they swing too much.
* Make sure there are plenty of places for the birds to perch around the feeders – trees, shrubs, or even a clothesline can be helpful.
* If possible, place the feeders in an area not too far from where you can put out ripe slices of fruit (or even banana peels) that will attract fruit flies. As unpleasant as this sounds, hummingbirds also eat small insects for vital protein. If your yard provides nectar and protein, you will almost certainly attract hummingbirds. You will, of course, want to keep the fruit far enough away from your house that the flies don’t bother you indoors.
* Never place a hummingbird feeder near an area that has been treated with pesticides. The pesticides may or may not be harmful to the birds, but they will kill the small insects that hummingbirds need for protein.
* If you have a garden with nectar-containing flowers, hang your feeders near them. Hummingbirds will be much more likely to partake of your feeders if hung near their natural food sources.
* It is fine to place feeders near a window so that you can watch the birds from indoors. Feeders are available now that even have suction cups to attach to your window. But be sure to put decals, windsocks or mini-blinds on the windows to prevent the birds from flying into the glass. Hummingbirds will sometimes mistake their reflection for another bird and attack the window. If you can find pictures of predatory birds such as crows or jays, you can place those on your windows to keep hummingbirds from injuring themselves with the glass.
* Keep feeders well away from areas where there are cats. While hummingbirds are hard to catch, a cat will sometimes manage it. In fact, cats that are allowed outside seriously reduce wild bird populations in the U.S. every year. If you or a neighbor own cats that roam outside, please refrain from hanging bird feeders of any kind. If your neighborhood has wandering cats, see the SuiteU course entitled, "Trap-Neuter-Return: Managing Feral Cat Colonies" for assistance.
* If you want to photograph your new visitors, try to place your feeders where the background will be lighter than the birds. If the birds are primarily dark green, and they are seen in front of green foliage, it will be hard to spot their tiny bodies in a photograph. (See lesson 4 for a section about photographing hummingbirds.)
* Don’t place feeders too close to a nest because it might alert predators to the location of young hummingbirds. Females feed their young more insect protein than nectar anyway, and she will be able to travel through your yard to the feeders when necessary. Be aware of crows, jays, roadrunners, and snakes in your yard, as they are all common hummingbird predators.
* Hang feeders at different heights if you live in an area with more than one species of hummingbird. Some species prefer to feed from different heights than others. Hanging feeders at varied heights will also prevent the birds from fighting over the nectar.
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