How to Attract Hummingbirds

Most every porch in the South has a red flower or a hummingbird feeder on it, but if yours is one of the few that doesn't, maybe you should think of putting one up.

Hummingbirds are fun to watch and easy to attract using feeders or planting flowers in your yard, said Dr. H. Lee Stribling, an Extension wildlife scientist.

The rubythroat hummingbird is common in Alabama. The male has a deep red patch on his throat and a dark green back. The female looks similar, but she doesn't have the red patch on her throat and her back is a lighter green.

Hummingbirds are attracted to the color red, so when you're buying a feeder at any local garden center, get a red one. If you already have a hummingbird feeder that is not red, use red food coloring in the nectar solution.

You can buy nectar solution or you can make your own for your feeder. Making your own is simple: mix one part sugar with four or five parts warm water. Stribling says although hummingbirds eat a few insects, the only nutrient they require is pure table sugar.

A few reminders from Stribling will help to keep your hummingbirds coming back. First, keep your feeder clean. Pour out any remaining nectar once a week and clean the feeder with vinegar and hot water. Never use detergent. Also, replace the nectar if the solution becomes cloudy.

Second, never use honey in your feeders. Although hummingbirds will eat honey, Stribling says they can't digest it and will die.

If ants are a problem, coat the line used to hang the feeder with vegetable oil. This keeps the ants from climbing down the line.

Although talk across the fence will tell you to take your hummingbird feeders down in the fall or the birds will stay and freeze to death, Stribling says it's okay to leave the feeders up as long as the birds are coming to it. He said the birds know when it's time to return to their winter homes.