Get Ready for Hummingbirds - Colin Bartlett

GET READY FOR HUMMINGBIRDS

Written by Colin Bartlett

Are you ready for the arrival of the hummingbirds? In the Nanaimo area it is around the middle of March that the Rufous Hummingbirds return. My rule of thumb is to have to hummingbird feeder out for the birds the first week of March for any early birds that may arrive. Also watch for when the Red Flowering Currant blooms as this is another indication as to when the hummingbirds will be arriving, they are usually feeding at these plants within a couple of days of them blooming.

To prepare your hummingbird feeders first give them a good cleaning using a cleaning solution of one part bleach to nine parts water. This will help to disinfect it for a clean start. Cleaning your hummingbird feeder is very important so look for a feeder that can be taken apart easily and cleaned.

If placing out a new feeder I recommend placing it in a spot that is easy to view and can be close to the house. My hummingbird feeders are in the morning sun and the hummingbirds are there first thing, so don’t think the feeder needs to be in the shade so the solution won’t ferment as the solution needs to be changed at least once a week. Also have the feeder in an open area where the hummingbirds can see it as they do find their food sources by sight. A hummingbird sees their food source through their ultra violet vision and red stands out when seen in their ultra violet sight as a food source, and this is why hummingbird feeders are red in colour. Other bright colours also work but if you are having trouble attracting hummingbirds to a feeder that is not red, try wrapping a red ribbon tightly around the bottle to help catch the hummingbirds eye. Once the hummingbirds have found the feeder remove the ribbon as the hummingbirds now know that this is a food source.

Hummingbirds have a great memory and return to the exact location of where the hummingbird feeders were hanging last year. Moving a hummingbird feeder to a new location may take the hummingbirds a little time to find it in t he new location. It may be easier to place the feeder in its original location and once the hummingbirds have returned slowly move the feeder along to the new location and the hummingbirds will follow.

Now that the hummingbirds have found the feeder I recommend a sugar water mixture of  (1) one part white sugar to (3) three parts water, and it is not required to add food colouring to your sugar water mix, as this can cause throat infections in the hummingbirds. Do not use commercial honey when making your nectar mix, as this can also be harmful to the hummingbirds. If making a large quantity of mix you can bottle and store the remainder in the refrigerator but only for a couple of weeks and then make a new sugar water mix. Hummingbirds are attacked to the sweetness, but I do not recommend using a sweeter mixture other than the one to three this time of year. If you make your nectar mixture stronger it will attract more birds but you could also be harming them. Backyard bird feeding is a supplementary feeding, it is not to replace the natural feed.

Since the sugar water mixture does ferment you will need to change mixture about every 5 days and every 3 days during hot weather. Frequently cleaning helps to keep mold from growing which affects the sugar water solution, and the health of the birds.

If ants and wasps are a nuisance the only way to eliminate them is to find a hummingbird feeder that does not leak. It is the food source, or sugar water, that leaks from the feeder that attract the ants and wasps.

The Rufous Hummingbirds are the busiest when they first arrive in March and into April but this busy activity will subside around the end of April as the males will established their territories and the females are beginning to nest. When the young fledge the activity around the feeders will be busy again in June and July before they begin their journey back south.

If you are in an area where the hummingbirds are plentiful you can estimate how many hummingbirds are visiting your feeders by how many cups of sugar water are used in a day. For every cup of sugar water used in a day, 65 hummingbirds are visiting your feeders. In some areas we know of backyard birders going through five or six cups of sugar water a day, that’s almost four hundred hummingbirds flying around the backyard.

With March now upon us it is time to get you hummingbird feeder out.

Good birding!!