| How to attract hummingbirds to your yard Gardeners, it seems, are competitive individuals who like to have the first of almost anything. And a growing number, based on the proliferation of tubular feeders with red bases and yellow flowers in nursery displays, are making a sport of attracting the first hummingbird of spring to their yard. This nonprofit venture promotes study of the ruby-throated hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) throughout the species' summer breeding range in North America. What is a hummingbird habitat? A hummingbird habitat consists of flowers, shrubs and trees that produce nectar and, ideally, a mist-type water feature. How do I know if a plant produces nectar? One way is to observe the plants already in your yard to see what birds or insects are visiting them, Hilton said. Others are determined to harvest the first ripe tomato of summer. A hummingbird habitat is different from a garden because a habitat offers a place for the tiny birds to feed, hide from predators, nest and raise their young, according to Bill Hilton Jr. That range includes 38 states east of the Great Plains and extends into Canada across the southern provinces from Alberta to British Columbia and as far north as Nova Scotia. Hilton says he has banded about 4,500 hummingbirds in York, S. Hilton is also the only scientist studying ruby-throat behavior on the species' wintering grounds in Central America, where he's banded another 1,000 individuals. , since he started Operation RubyThroat: The Hummingbird Project in 1984. There's another way to attract hummingbirds. Are some plants especially attractive to hummingbirds? Yes. |
Friday, 11 May 2012
How to attract hummingbirds to your yard
