Hummingbirds don’t get summer vacations
By My Courier-Tribune
While kids and families lounge by the pool or sit in the backyard kiddie pool, hummingbirds are already busy preparing for fall. Little ones born last month have grown to full size by now. Look closely and you may see young and parents foraging together as they all fuel up to put on fat for their long journey south starting in mid-August, according to a release from the Missouri Department of Conservation.
Hummingbirds migrate as close as southern Florida and as far away as South America for the winter, so they need a lot of fuel for their trip.
For folks wanting to help these tiny birds prepare for their journey, planting native plants is the best thing to do. They supply nectar and attract insects for the birds to eat but adding a nectar feeder is a great option as well.
Flowers supply hummingbirds with the nutrient-rich nectar that can provide up to 90% of their diet. Ruby-throated hummingbirds especially love red or orange tubular flowers, such as those found on trumpet creeper, native honeysuckles, and red buckeye.
One simple way to attract ruby-throats is to build or buy a hummingbird feeder and fill it with a nectar solution. Providing a complete diet in your feeder is not essential, because the birds will balance their diets on their own. Hang the feeder where you can see it from inside your house.
If you have many competing hummingbirds, consider placing additional feeders in different parts of the yard. When shopping for a feeder, consider those with bee or wasp guards, which are plastic mesh covers that prevent insects from reaching the nectar. Sometimes the guards can be purchased separately.
A mixture of sugar and water — four parts water to one part sugar — makes a good nectar. Because most hummingbird feeders are red, there is no need to add red food coloring to the nectar.
Be sure to clean the feeder very well to reduce the growth of bacteria, which can sicken hummingbirds. Change the nectar weekly or more often if it becomes cloudy.
Hummingbirds continue to migrate through Missouri through mid-October so there is still plenty of time to help them on their journey this year.
