Spring is on the way!
Last month I wrote about how to attract butterflies to your yard. Now let’s take a look at how to bring hummingbirds to your yard.
Hummingbirds apparently can remember feeding locations and will return to the best feeders. The food is a simple recipe: refined sugar and water (don’t add the red dye!). See easy recipes here or here.
Some fun facts about these birds:
- There are more than 325 unique hummingbird species in the world. Only eight species regularly breed in the United States, though up to two dozen species may visit the country.
- Hummingbirds do not suck nectar through their long bills, instead they lick it with fringed, forked tongues.
- Hummingbirds cannot walk or hop, though their feet can be used to scoot sideways while they are perched.
- A hummingbird’s wings beat between 50 and 200 flaps per second depending on the direction of flight, the purpose of their flight, and the surrounding air conditions.
Carol from the “Hummingbird Spot” has a great YouTube channel with tons of videos that are all things hummingbirds. Check out how many hummingbirds she attracts to her patio:
See all of the Hummingbird Spot videos here for more tricks and their amazing videos of hummingbirds!
DCG
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Fascinating “fun facts” about hummingbirds. I had not known they can’t walk or hop, which means they must fly all the time, except when they perch on tree branches. Poor birdies!
DCG . . . What a wonderful article. Thank you. It must be exhausting to be a hummingbird, if you have to flap your wings 50-200 times per second. I was exhausted just learning that fact.
Thank you DCG for this most interesting and beautiful post. I love hummingbirds and we have several feeders for them on our deck. I love to watch them, as they are so colorful and so fast. Wonderful!