HUMMINGBIRD CATS?

Tubular flowers are the salvation for a tiny bird destined to eat just about every minute of the daylight hours in order to maintain enough energy for flight.  A feeder full of sugar water is a great help to the survival of these mini-birds with the big metabolism.

But, hummingbirds do not live by sugar water alone.  They need insects for protein.  Additionally, insects are the main diet fed to the nestlings.  Plants lure insects.  A garden with both a feeder and nectar rich flowers will support hummingbirds in the best way possible.

Everyone knows these little flying machines love red.  Did you know that they also love blue tubular flowers?  Even the shrimp colored flowers of shrimp plant (Justicia brandegeana) will tempt them with nectar.  Tubes of nectar in any color are the key to supplying a good hummingbird habitat.

Plant salvias in your garden's sunny spots, in every form of annual or perennial, and they will soon employ a hummingbird circus.  The blue salvia (Salvia guaranitica), and the darker selection 'Black and Blue', are special treats in the southern landscape.

Cactus blossoms in the desert, Indian paintbrush in the Southwest, Fuschia in the Northwest and Northeast, bromeliads in the more tropical zones all supply hummingbird nectar.  Add monarda, cestrum, cigar plant (Cuphea), firebush (Hamelia patens), and penstemon to the mix.

These spirited little birds can fly backwards and forwards, left and right, and hover in one spot.  Their feet were not made for walking, just for perching.  If you spend lengths of time in your garden, and have one or more hummingbird feeders, you will soon be at the mercy of a creature that is three and a half inches long and weighs about the same as a half dozen hyacinth bean seeds.

I have, from time to time, been guilty of letting the feeders become empty, just for a very short time.  In my defense, I do have flowers and vegetables to tend.  With a hum of wings, a darting small bird will suddenly appear in front of me, hover, and stare directly in my face at eye level.  This is a gentle reminder.  I drop my trowel and head for the kitchen with the empty feeders.

After the feeders are restocked and re-hung, the humming visits start again.  Never has there been a thank you stare-in-the-face.  They seem to believe that full feeders are their due.  In some ancient time, were they related to cats?

--Posted by Anne K. Moore  May 13, 2007--