Hummingbird Lures

If you’d like to experience the sweet joy of watching nature’s tiniest birds move unbelievably fast through your garden, you’ll want to add a few lures designed to make your yard one of their favorite stops. In addition to planting some of their favorite nectar sources like Red Shrimp Plant, any and all Salvias, Powderpuff, and Cuphea, add feeders to your garden. Because the color red appears brighter to them than other colors (one theory about why they gravitate to certain colors) those red feeders that are available everywhere work very well. Hummingbirds will take a large sip of sugar water from these with very little effort and they will love that. Hummingbirds, like many animals, mentally map where they find their best food sources and they return frequently to those spots. Set your garden up with many reasons for them to visit and they will, again and again! We often see the same birds visit day after day in the garden center because there is no shortage of food there and they don’t forget that.

Besides nectar, hummingbirds will eat insects so they’re likely to return to yards where insects are allowed to stay so maybe don’t be so quick to brush off every spider web you see or step on every anthill. Because hummingbirds are so active, they feed often and having as many food sources as you can is like offering them the value of a buffet.

The next tips apply to all birds. Make sure you have many perches for your feathered entertainment- branches, railings, statuary and birdhouses work. Finally, give them a spot to cool off and groom themselves. They like a dip or a misting before they clean their feathers. Bird baths or even watering cans are great options and catching a bird preening there will make a sweet photo opportunity.

Don’t forget we have a delicious belly busting bird feed mixed especially for our Winter visitors.