A Guide to Attracting and Feeding Hummingbirds

No, I haven’t just revealed the secret name of Microsoft’s next version of the Windows operating system (to the best of my knowledge, it won’t be called Hummingbird). The title of this post refers to the windows you cover with blinds or curtains when you don’t want your neighbors to see you walking around your home in your boxer shorts. When it comes to operating a hummingbird feeding station, placement is often a key concern. Several artificial hummingbird feeders allow for attachment to or near windows to facilitate watching these daring little creatures up close as they feed. But is that risky?

I suspect I’m not the only one to have heard a thud outside my window and, on inspection, discovered the heartbreaking sight of an injured or dying bird on the ground. Birds of all kinds can and do fly into windows from time to time. Hummingbirds are no different but the concern here is generally inflated. Decorative features, the way light plays on glass, curtains and blinds all serve to, more often than not, make windows stand out as an impenetrable feature. It also helps that your visiting hummingbirds are going to be more interested in flying TO your hummingbird feeder rather than PAST it at breakneck speeds.

The greater risk is not the lone hummingbird approaching a hummingbird feeder placed by a window. Rather, it is the territorial and dominant nature of these little devils that tends to get them in trouble. A single hummingbird can become very possessive of your feeder. In its frenetic efforts to drive off competition, it might well drive its opposition or itself into your window. But there are a few simple things you can do to help minimize the odds of that happening.

Consider placing multiple feeders throughout your property. Ensure they are out of sight of each other so that one selfish bird doesn’t assume he can dominate them all. The four sides of your home may work well with ample coverage provided by the structure itself.

If you want a prime viewing spot with a feeder right outside your window, consider adding blinds to the window. Venetian style blinds can be tilted open to allow you a view of the feeding animals but provide enough of a visual barrier to deter birds from intentionally or unintentionally trying to enter your house at warp speed.

Decorative features such as glass decorations will add a touch of flair to your window but also serve as a visual queue to your birds. You could also consider subtle adhesive tinting. Sold in rolls like plastic food wrap, these can make your windows stand out as an obstacle. Speaking of plastic food wrap, colored versions of this material can also serve to help your window stand out while still providing you an unobstructed view of your hummingbird feeding station. Finally, a screen outside your window is generally visible enough to prevent birds from flying into your window. Even if they overlook it, it’s a comparatively soft impact.

Given that there are some practical solutions at hand to reduce the risk of injuring your visiting hummingbirds, I don’t see any real reason to avoid placing your feeder at or near your windows. Just apply a bit of common sense or some creative defensive measures and your hummingbird feeding efforts should be devoid of any windows related tragedies.

 But speaking of window mounted hummingbird feeders, if you’re looking for one, take a peek at the Droll Yankees Window Mounted Hummingbird Feeder with Nectar Guard.

A recent comment by a reader in the Basics of Attracting and Feeding Hummingbirds inspired this post. Monte lives in an area which enjoys a large native deer population and wants to know if there are hummingbird friendly plants deer will ignore. While beautiful creatures in their own right, many gardners will be quick to warn that Bambi isn’t the most garden-friendly critter in the world.

I elected to write a post rather than answer Monte’s question in the comments because there’s are some questions when it comes to your personal preferences for protecting your hummingbird garden. Do you enjoy having the deer around but want to protect your hummingbird attracting flowers? Would you be content to never see a deer in your garden again (the sound of gardeners applauding this one is almost deafening)? Would you still like them to show up but just graze on the periphery of your garden?

If you would be content to keep deer away entirely, a high fence is your best bet. If you want to maintain an open garden, there are several commercially available deer repellents as well as some sworn-by home solutions. Many gardeners swear by soap (Dial and Zest get good reviews). Deer apparently don’t like the smell. Plant these around the perimeter of your garden. Heavily scented fabric softeners or nylon stocking stuffed with human hair clippings are also reported to keep deer at bay.

If you are content to have deer at the periphery of your garden but not feeding in your garden, consider giving them what they want. Clover and alfalfa at the edges of your yard (peferably near cover so the deer feel safe) will give deer a tempting meal to nibble on which will hopefully deter them from feeling the need to venture further in. Additionally, you can use the soap idea from above but place the bars near your hummingbird flowers but away from other plants you don’t mind the deer grazing on.

To answer your question specifically, though, there are flowers ideal for hummingbird feeding that are considered deer tolerant (more on that term in a minute). You could consider using any of these in combination with the strategy of planting deer-prefered plants closer to the edge of your garden in an effort to keep hummingbirds, deer and nature loving home owner happy.

Perenials

• Bee Balm
• Cardinal Flower
• Dahlia

Annuals

• Flowering Tobacco

Vines 

• Cardinal Climber

Now to address the term “deer tolerant.” Regardless what you plant or don’t plant, deer stressed by over population, habitat loss or hunger will bypass just about anything and eat just about anything. Ultimately, a fence is the only assured solution for keeping deer at bay. Please let me know if you try any of these suggestions and how they work out.

As mentioned in the section on the Basics of Attracting and Feeding Hummingbirds Hummingbirds have some very specific preferences and needs. While store bought nectars will likely meet your requirements, they can also contain additives that aren’t ideal.

My early experiments with hummingbird feeding involved using a commercial nectar. The product did the job of bringing in the birds but I worry to this day that the red coloring may have been harmful. Though I haven’t found any literature proving conclussively that artificial coloring presents a risk to fragile hummingbirds, it is perhaps best to er on the side of caution and avoid such solutions entirely.

If you choose to use a commercial product for your hummingbird feeding needs, consider avoiding products containing artificial coloring, additives and nutrients. Remember that a hummingbird consumes nectar to fuel its engine for hunting real food. Nectar produced with nutrition in mind might be more harmful than useful (though there’s no proof to back that up, just the perhaps overly-cautious concern of a bird lover).

Any powder nectar mix you might buy is going to require preparation including mixing (and probably boiling) in water. As hummingbird feeding with homemade nectar requires the same steps, you could consider the diy approach as a more economic and more involved way of meeting your hummingbird feeding needs.

To produce a homemade nectar, use only cane table sugar. As noted in Special Hummingbird Feeding Needs you want to use a mixture of about 1 part cane sugar for every 4 parts water but can intensify the mix to 1 part cane sugar for every 3 parts water during migration periods. Those who wish to use other sweetner options should be warned that you might risk driving off your hummingbirds or harming them.

Hummingbird feeding should never include the use of powdered sugar. Also avoid raw sugar as it contains iron which can, over time, prove harmful or fatal to hummingbirds. As mentioned in Basics of Attracting and Feeding Hummingbirds, never use honey as a sweetner. Honey can lead to fungal an microbeal infestations that are fatal to hummingbirds.

Finally, don’t put your hummingbirds on a diet. A hummingbird is always hours away from starvation. They feed on copious amounts of nectar, far in excess of their own body mass, during the day just to provide the energy they need to hunt for the food that keeps them alive. Artificial sweetners such as sacarine may fool the birds into visiting your hummingbird feeding station but will provide absolutely zero calories of burnable energy. A bird fooled into consuming nectar made from an artificial sweetner will likely burn energy it doesn’t have and be unable to hunt for the sustenance it desperately needs to stay alive. So I’ll say it again - NO ARTIFICIAL SWEETNERS!