Because of our warm winter and early spring, we are seeing Redbud and Dogwood trees budding almost 6 weeks early.   We usually hang our humming bird feeders the first week of April for early arrivals who are passing thru to return to their summer home as far north as Canada.   In Morgan County,  we expect our full timers to arrive  April 16^th or 17^th,   Who knows what will happen this year;  but I’ll have feeders out by April 1^st – just in case. 

And yes, it is a fact that hummers return to summer over at the place where they were born.  Last year a neighbor invited me to her house to see the hummer born there six years ago.  He is easily identified because he was born with no feet!

If you log onto www.humingbirds.net/map.html, you can see if anyone else has reported sighting the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird in your area.  And you can report the sighting of an early hummer who is passing thru.   

The 3 keys to attracting hummers are to provide:

Help for Nesting: In your yard scatter animal hair (dog, cat, deer).  The hummers weave a nest about the size of a quarter attached to a tree limb.   They will lay 2 or 3 pea sized eggs and the nest expands as the babies grow.  Before the tree leaves are fully formed, watch carefully as the hummer leaves the feeder and perhaps you can follow the growth of the young.

Food:  Provide Nectar at clean feeders.  The recipe for nectar is 4 parts water brought to a boil, removed from the heat, then stir in 1 part regular sugar.  Cool before putting into a feeder.  Don’t add red food coloring.   In hot weather, don’t let the nectar get rancid.  And YES, the bear like to drink nectar; so it’s a good idea to bring feeders in at dusk.   Male hummers are territorial about their feeder; so you may have to add additional feeders as you acquire more families.

Water:  The best way to provide water for hummers is with a “mister” attached to the end of a hose and placed in a forked limb of a tree.  It uses only .75 gallons of water per hour and you will have many hours of enjoyment watching them.

Ants and Bees also like nectar!  An ant “mote” hung above a feeder will fend off ants.

 Some feeders come with bee guards.  You can lure bees away by hanging a bee/wasp trap near your feeders. 

Attracting hummers to your backyard is easy.  These summer visitors will bring you hours of pleasure as you watch them from April into September.