Attracting Ruby-throated Hummingbirds to Your Yard !
In search of an adequate food supply to raise a family, thousands of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds migrate from Central America to Michigan during Spring. What does it take to attract these Jewel=like birds to our yard?
Hummingbirds are known to enjoy nectar offered in specialty feeders. Boil one cup of water; add 1/4 cup of sugar; cool and fill the feeder, keeping the extra nectar in the refrigerator. Be patient and keep the foods fresh, replacing them every few days. Be sure to keep your feeders clean, too. You can also plant specific native flowers to attract them. Click here for a list of native plants offered by our friends at Detroit Abloom.
Read Rosann's blog for more information about attracting Ruby-throated Hummingbirds.
Fun Facts about Ruby-throated Hummingbirds
- Hummingbirds weigh 1/10th of an ounce; about the weight of a penny.
- Hummingbirds have such underdeveloped legs that they are unable to walk.
- Hummingbirds generally lay 2 eggs about the size of a blueberry.
- Ruby-throated Hummingbirds have one of the highest nesting success rates of any Neotropical migrant.
- Ruby-throated Hummingbirds will have two broods, each taking 45 days from nest construction to fledging.
- Hummingbirds use spider webs as glue to attach the nest to a tree branch as well as a binding agent for the building materials. The nest is about the size of a golf ball; around 1 ½ inches in diameter.
- Hummingbirds eat about every 10 minutes.
- Hummingbirds lap up nectar with their long tongues. There is a groove on either side of the tongue that creates a capillary action to help draw the nectar up the tongue and into the mouth during the lapping action.
- Hummingbirds can extend their tongue approximately a distance equal to the length of their bill. While lapping up nectar, Hummingbirds can move their tongues in and out of their bill at a rate of up to 12 times a second.
- They eat insects and insect eggs on the ground and in trees. They love spiders and spider eggs. They use their bill and not their tongue to catch insects.
- Hummers avoid deep water, but will bathe in shallow pools or dishes, and love to take showers in sprinklers and misters.